


Dress Me Up and Dress Me Down

by StandinShadow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Developing Friendships, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Korean Keith (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Injuries (Offscreen), Spoilers for every Anime mentioned, They're all Giant Nerds in an Anime Club, cosplay au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-07 15:18:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11626290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StandinShadow/pseuds/StandinShadow
Summary: Shiro has decided that Keith needs more friends than just him and convinces him to join his anime club, who go to cons every month. Keith doesn't think he needs anyone but himself and Shiro, but goes to humor his big brother. There Keith comes face to face with his self-proclaimed rival, Lance.And Lance? he's is thinking of all the different moody and partially shirtless characters he can make Keith dress up as now, even as he starts to see other sides to the guy he nearly wrote off.





	1. Avatar The Last Airbender

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: This chapter spoils the anime film Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki!

  The end of Keith’s life as he knows it comes in October of his freshman year at college. It’s all Shiro’s fault (years later, Keith will thank him, soft and quiet, and Shiro won’t know what he’s asking). They’re sitting in Shiro’s room, Shiro in his computer chair typing his graduate essay and Keith lying flat on the bed, manga held out over his head even as he stares blankly at the pages. “I might not finish _HunterxHunter_.”

“You need more friends,” Shiro answers with a shrug, glancing at Keith over his shoulder with a small grimace. Keith blinks, setting his manga aside and sitting up on his elbows, rustling Shiro’s black comforter. He pulls his hoodie a little tighter around his chest, waiting for Shiro to make a joke or tease him about his reading habits even though he cried over the ending to _Naruto_.

“Thanks, Shiro,” Keith mutters, rolling his eyes and sticking out his tongue as he glances over at Shiro’s bookshelf. Maybe he can find something to read there until Shiro abandons him for his anime club again.

“No, I mean it,” Shiro says, voice surprisingly firm as he catch’s Keith’s eye. His gaze is soft and worried, lips pressed into a tight frown. Keith lets out a small groan, not sure where this is coming from, because he’s being doing great lately. He gets straight A’s, he plays Tennis and fences (well, that might be at risk), and he hasn’t gotten into an actual fight since high school. Who cares if he does it all alone? “Look, now that I’ve officially joined the Garrison, I’m not always going to be here. I don’t want you to be alone.”

“Then you probably shouldn’t have waited six years to start,” Keith scoffs, sitting up on the bed, crossing his arms as he shoots a pointed glare at Shiro. Shiro lets out a small, almost pained sigh, as though he’s talking to a child and not his 18-year-old brother.

Keith knows what the Garrison, an elite exploration unit for the EPA, is, knows Shiro could be sent on missions at a moment’s notice in exchange for a free ride through grad school. He knew that three years ago when Shiro signed up in the first place. Keith has no idea why it’s coming up now, just because Shiro is at the point where they might actually make him go to the ocean floor or dive into a volcano. Well, other than making Keith jealous.

“Keith,” Shiro says, a hint of annoyance in his voice, though not enough to drive out the worry as he stares at him. Shiro runs a hand through his hair, a few white strands standing up starkly in the sea of black. Shiro’s only 22, so Keith reminds himself to make fun of Shiro for that later.

“Look, I’ll be okay without you,” Keith says with a reassuring smile, gaze growing softer as he cocks his head at Shiro, one foot kicking the floor. “I know what you signed up for.”

“I know you so, but feelings don’t really work that way,” Shiro says, smirking a little as Keith rolls his eyes again. That platitude was almost as bad as “patience yields focus”. Keith had spent years saying that before every test, every match, and well, every important life event pretty much. Then Shiro told him he read it on a fortune cookie. Keith still hasn’t forgiven him (or stopped using it, but he’s not about to tell Shiro that). “And either way it’s not healthy.”

Keith raises an eyebrow at that, frowning a little as he stands up from the bed. He inches toward the door, hoping Shiro won’t notice and he can get to his own room before Shiro drags him to another party or club he doesn’t want to join. His words make Keith freeze by the door, because he’s been accused of being a lot of things, but unhealthy isn’t one of them. Keith can take out guys like twice his size. “ _Healthy_?”

“People need people, Keith,” Shiro answers back, voice soft and small as he slumps forward in his chair to meet Keith’s gaze. Keith bites his lip, pouting a little as Shiro gives him the puppy dog eyes. “So come to my anime club with me.”

Keith gives him a tight look, going over his options in his head. If he says no, Shiro will needle him until Keith joins one of the several other clubs Shiro is in because he’s an overachiever. If he says yes, he’ll spend another awkward night with people he doesn’t know not talking, but Shiro will be happy and Keith might just be able to get something out of it too. “If I come, will you finally watch _Puella Magi Madoka_ with me?”

“… Fine,” Shiro agrees after a beat, smiling even as he shakes his head. Shiro slides out of his chair, gesturing for Keith to follow him down the hall. They have an apartment, but Allura, one of the club’s members and coolest girl on campus, has a house.

Well, her two dads do, being the president of the school and one of the most beloved professors on campus (and the club advisor), but it’s still a lot nicer than Keith’s and Shiro’s apartment. It’s a twenty-minute walk, and they’re silent the entire way there, Keith’s nerves building in time with his glare. By the time they get to the front door, all gilded wood and ancient cobblestone, he looks like he wants to punch someone.

“Hey! You must be Keith! Shiro’s told me so much about you,” Allura says as the door suddenly swing open, revealing a bright smile, a flash of white hair making him blink a little. If she notices his glaring or crossed arms, it doesn’t show in her face. She holds out her hand as though to shake, but pulls it back just as Keith reaches his out, and suddenly he feels a deep kinship with Allura that makes him smile a little. They’re both awkward as shit. No wonder Shiro likes them both. “I’m Allura.”

“Hey,” Keith mumbles, still grinning a little as he follows her down the long hallway, trying not to stare at the paintings of her father Dr. Alfor or Dr. Coran, who smiled just a little too wide even in his more formal portraits. There’s a photo of Allura on nearly every wall. Keith catches Shiro staring at one of the most recent ones, Allura’s eyes sparkling as she looks out over the ocean. Keith snickers when his brother actually comes to a dead stop. “He’s mentioned you too.”

Shiro elbows him gently as they go through the front door, and Keith manages to compose himself, face a mask of annoyance and boredom by the time they get to the couches. It got him through life until now; it’ll work tonight too.

“Hey Keith, I’m Hunk. I hope you’re ready to cry, because _Wolf Children_ is super sad,” Hunk calls out as he suddenly leaps up from the couch, nearly knocking over the girl with short brown hair and glasses off the dark brown leather cushion they shared as he did. She lets out a low groan, though Keith can hear the warmth behind it. Hunk smiles, sunny and with a kind gaze, the sort they use in movies shoujo manga to let the audience know the love interest had a heart of gold. Keith fights off a blush.

Instead Keith lets himself be pulled into a half hug, leaning into it a little without thinking and then shaking himself out of it. It isn’t because he needs more friends like Shiro said, it’s just because Hunk is cute and Keith is weak. The girl leans back, meeting his gaze with a small smirk. “I’m Pidge, it’s not that sad.”

Keith lets out a small laugh at that, about to introduce himself when he sees long legs and an all too familiar face walk through the door. Lance Ramirez. Lance, the blue eyed, curly haired angel from his astrophysics class who hates Keith for reasons Keith cannot fathom since they’ve only talked for real twice. Across from him, Lance’s eyes widen comically, and then he marches over to Keith as though on a mission. Keith blinks owlishly at him, as though maybe if he does it enough the other boy will disappear. No such luck. “… Lance?”

* * *

“Keith?” Lance spits out, gripping his diet coke just a little too tightly as he eyes the other boy with suspicion. Keith glares back, though up close Lance can see almost something anxious in his gaze. Huh. He cocks his head, giving Keith a careful once over as though expecting some kind of explanation to manifest in the air, some answer for why his rival is standing in the middle of Allura’s family room. None comes. “What are you doing here?”

“I like anime!” Keith snaps and then immediately winces, gaze dropping to the floor as he crosses his arms defensively. Up close and without them competing for the best scores on each test, Lance realizes Keith looks less angry than well, anxious, lips more of a pout than a sneer. Keith is … nervous? About being at an anime club? Keith Kim, ace of the freshman year and the tennis team? Really?

“Oh, yeah, that makes sense,” Lance agrees after a beat, nodding and glancing away from Keith as he realizes he’d gone several seconds without saying anything. Great. Now he must seem like the jerk instead of Keith. He throws an arm out, lopping it through the air as he takes a seat, hoping Keith understands for him to follow him. Keith stares back at him blankly, mouth curling in confusion. Nope. Lance sighs a little as he pats the seat next to him, and Keith’s eyes widen a little and then he smiles crookedly and gives Lance the thumbs up. Oh my God. Is Keith cute? No.

“Kind of hard not to be with Shiro around,” Keith answers with a shrug as he sits down next to Lance, grabbing a handful of popcorn as he pulls in on himself a little. Lance frowns at him and narrows his gaze, because movie night isn’t a night to be a lone wolf. “I help make his costumes.”

“Wait really?” Lance asks, voice rising a little as he suddenly grabs Keith by the arm, and he knows his expression must be wild by the way Keith’s mouth falls open and eyes go wide. Next to him, Pidge and Allura both snicker, Allura shaking her head a little and mouthing something that sounds suspiciously like “he wasn’t even that bad with me”. Lance has no idea what that means, because he’s not flirting with Keith (and he was super smooth with Allura).

Still Lance lets go of Keith’s arm and lets the other boy fall back on the couch cushion, gaze still a little blown, like no one had touched him in months. Maybe they haven’t, outside of Shiro. Lance doesn’t really see Keith with anyone else, come to think of it. “Why would I lie about that?”

“No, I look – we go to cons once a month,” Lance says with a small grin, gaze reassuring as he gave Keith a once over. He stops at the hair, Keith’s stupid, stupid hair, which suddenly became perfect as visions of red and black dance through Lance’s mind. “You have to come too. This is perfect.”

“What’s perfect?” Keith asks with a small frown, crossing his arms a little as his gaze grows a little tighter, hints of his earlier anxiety coming back into his gaze. Lance guesses he must not look as reassuring as he’s aiming for. But he can hardly care, not when the way Keith is pouting, bangs falling across his face, only reinforces all of Lance’s newly founded confidence that they need Keith.

“You. As Zuko. Like, I feel like we were blessed,” Lance explains with a small sigh, gaze growing softer as he imagines Keith in a tunic glaring at him. They’d been so close to the perfect Gaang before, and now they’ve finally made it. Keith’s still frowning, but Lance sees the flicker of excitement in his eyes and knows he’s got him.

“He does have the right personality,” Shiro calls out from where he’s sitting next to Allura, prosthetic arm wrapped around her shoulder. Shiro glances at Keith with a playful smirk Lance has never seen on Shiro’s face before, though there’s something soft and proud in his gaze. Keith sticks his tongue out at Shiro before taking a bite of his popcorn. It’s so domestic and normal and not the Keith he knows in class, who never talks to anyone beyond short words and writes like he’s trying to stab his homework into submission.

“Whatever, Shiro,” Keith mutters as he reaches for his drink, a fizzy pop Lance doesn’t recognize. He glances over at his brother, frowning a little and eyebrows scrunching together. “That’s not an anime.”

“We know, but you’re brother insisted,” Lance says with a shrug, though he’s wondering if Keith is the exact reason Shiro chose Avatar for his month. He must have known Lance wouldn’t be able to risk making Keith Zuko, and going by the fact Keith still looked excited, that Keith wouldn’t say no. Lance just has no idea why. He does Shiro’s still going to be punished for breaking club rules, president or not. “That’s why he’s Ozai.”

“Fair,” Keith agrees with a small nod, earning a betrayed look from his brother, who lazily throws a hand to his heart in mock offense. Keith smirks, gaze teasing as he stretches out on the couch. “At least they didn’t make you be Mako.”

The room breaks out into snickers, Allura playfully poking Shiro on the cheek as he shakes his head in despair. When the laughter fades, Hunk finally hits play on the movie. And yeah, Lance maybe tears up a little at the scene with the dad, but he’s pretty sure Mr. Tough Guy Keith feels it too even if he doesn’t cry, gaze flitting to Shiro for a second before going back to the screen.

“I bet you were like the crying one,” Lance mumbles as he wipes his eyes, the movie shifting forward to when they’re toddlers. It’s a joke, because the little boy is soft and sensitive, eyes filling with tears every few minutes. He’s adorable, but nothing like the expressionless boy sitting next to him.

“Actually yeah, but wait until the end,” Keith murmurs, glancing over at Lance with a smile so brief Lance almost thinks he imagines it. There’s something longing and sad in Keith’s voice, and Lance finds himself watching Ame far more closely than Hana or Yuki. By the end of the night he finds himself wanting to know more about the boy who became a wolf, and if there’s any way for him to change back (he doesn’t mean Ame).

* * *

Keith gets a text from Lance asking him to come over to work on their costumes with him in the quad Saturday morning, and against all better judgment finds himself sitting next to him on a thick blue blanket. He carefully makes an adjustment to his sleeve, lips pressed into a thin line as he focuses on getting the sleeves right. “What’s it like being the little brother of the great Takashi Shirogane?”

“It’s … nice,” Keith answers with a shrug, trying to fight himself from beaming too much. Normally people pick topics he’s bad at for small talk, but Keith could talk about how awesome Shiro is all day. Shiro saved his life, pretty much, after all. Keith looks down, smile shy as he ducks his head as the words just pour out of him. “Shiro is my hero, if I’m honest. He changed my entire life and he’s the first person who ever saw something worthwhile in me.”

Lance blinks a little, eyes wide, but then they soften a little. There’s something warm and understanding there, and Keith idly remembers that Lance has mentioned having siblings a few times in class. Maybe one of them is what Shiro is for him. Maybe all of them are. Lance patches the fur up his boot a little more, voice curious as he asks his next question. “What about your parents?”

Keith winces a little at that, though it quickly morphs into a tight glare as he stiches grow faster. Keith loves Shiro’s mom, a veterinarian with a tender smile and warm eyes just like her son, but … she doesn’t love Keith, or Keith doesn't think she does, anyway. In nearly seven years of being adopted, Hinata has never asked Keith to call her mom, as much as he wants her too. And he’d heard mom on the phone one night when he was fifteen, mumbling about how she wanted a little brother for Shiro. He didn't wait to hear the rest of the phone call. Keith doesn’t speak until he can force his voice into something that reveals none of that. “I was adopted at 11.”

“Oh, but before?” Lance asks and then immediately blanches, gaze growing small and eyebrows shooting to his forehead as though he can’t believe the words that just came out of his mouth. Keith can’t blame him, stopping mid stitch to give the other boy a grimace. Keith really doesn’t want to talk about then, not even with Shiro, let alone Lance. “Never mind, not my business. Hey look, your sleeves are coming along really nicely!”

“So umm … what do you like to do on the weekends?” Keith asks after a beat, knowing his smile looks more like a grimace. He wants to get the back the ease of a few minutes ago, when they were sitting side by side in the warm sun, Keith brushing his fingers through the grass every few minutes. Not the now when Lance looked ready to bolt and Keith knows his face looks ready to melt the sun. “Besides Cons.”

“Well, those take up a lot of time,” Lances answers with a small sigh, both fond and tired at the same time, the way Shiro does whenever he gets back from one. Keith swallows and wonders what exactly he signed himself up for. He’s a lot less extroverted than Lance or even Shiro, and he hates crowds. “But I play video games and I go home a lot to visit my family. Sometimes I get some archery practice in.”

“What are they like?” Keith asks, cocking his head a little as he moves onto the some stitch work on the edge of his other sleeve. Lance raises an eyebrow, but then he smiles as Keith holds his gaze.

“Well I’m the baby – I know, no surprise. I have two older sisters, Tara and Lena. Tara’s 30 and works for the ACLU and is smarter than anyone you’ve ever met. Lena’s 26 and just finished med school, she works as many hours as you,” Lance explains, stopping in his sewing work to throw his hands out, gaze tender and proud as he talked about his family. Keith grins at the sheer joy in Lance’s tone. “And then my older brother, Roberto, is 29 and he just had his first kid, Amy, she’s adorable, I have photos. Let me show you.”

Lance holds up a photo a smiling little girl in a _Moana_ hoodie, pigtails coming undone as she held her arms out wide. She looks a little like Lance, the same toothy grin, though hers was missing a few. It’s nice, how close you all seem.”

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Lance says with a soft smile, gaze dropping back to his boots. He shifts a little closer to Keith on the blanket, and they spend several moments working side by side in contended silence.

“Wait you do archery?” Keith asks suddenly, whipping around to stare at Lance with wide eyes. Lance drops his boot in surprise, some of the fear nearly coming off as he raises his eyebrows at Keith and glances down at the boot pointedly. Keith shrugs sheepishly, putting his hands up in the air to apologize. Lance gives him a blank look for a moment and then lets out a small chortle, and Keith joins in after a minute. Looks like they’re both a little extra.

“Yeah, I was almost a state champ when I was a kid,” Lance says as they catch their breath, picking up his boot and moving the fake fur back into place. Lance grins over at him, almost looking bashful, even though he was apparently kind of a badass. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“No, Lance, that’s awesome. I’d love to watch you shoot sometime. Maybe we could do Red Arrow and Nightwing,” Keith murmurs excitedly, and then bites his lip when he realizes he’s making plans for the future with Lance, who up until two weeks ago hated him. God, how two movie nights and four costume sessions changed things. Keith’s entering into unknown territory here and he isn’t sure if he likes it.

“You’d look good in the costume,” Lance mutters, wriggling his eyebrows a little as he gives a once over, like he can somehow see his abs through his hoodie. Keith flushes before he can fight it off, face growing red and the heat spreading down to his neck. Lance quickly turns away from him, whistling softly as he looks anywhere but at Keith, which Keith is very grateful for. “You gotta to finish your tunic.”

“And you need to fix your boots,” Keith mutters with a small smirk that Lance returns, awkwardness fading as they spend the rest of the morning in contented silence. Keith might just like this. 

 

* * *

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge all meet up in front of the con doors, Lance letting out a low exhale when he gets a text from Keith saying he and Shiro will meet them inside. He kind of wanted to see Keith’s costume first, given how often their schedules meant they worked on them together. Stupid Shiro, living with Keith. Pidge has gone as a … creative rendition of Toph, or at least Toph’s powers, surrounded by 3-D paper carefully styled into jagged rock and metal, only her face and hands peaking out. Her glasses are gone. Lance feels almost under dressed in his sleeves tunic and blue pants. “Pidge, that stone is amazing,”

“Yeah, it does look pretty cool,” Keith’s voice calls out, and Lance turns to find the other boy smiling crookedly as he gives Pidge’s costume an admiring look. His own costume is a perfect replica of Zuko’s season 3 look, sleeves just the right level of baggy before they puckered in and scar on the right side of his face. His makeup is surprisingly good, and Lance wonders if Shiro helped him or if that’s just another one of Keith’s many skills.

“We all do, we’re the coolest group of friends here,” Lance says with a grin as he throws his arm around Hunk, whose bald cap is starting to shift and make his makeup run, and Pidge. Well, around Pidge’s rock, at least. Surprise flitters across Keith’s face before he makes a low grunt, turning his gaze away from the three of them and towards the door.

Okay. Weird reaction to Lance calling them friends, but at least the pouting and crossed arms are in character. Maybe Keith just gets really into that part of cons, Lance tries to tell himself as he moves over to stand next to the boy and wait for Allura and Shiro. They come through the doors a moment later, Allura a perfect Katara, even tinting her hair brown for the day. Shiro cuts an impressive figure as Ozai, costume exact, though his facial hair is … lacking, both by wig standards and by the standards that Shiro can’t really grow a beard.

Shiro glances over at Keith with a grin, before his expression suddenly morphs into a tight glare as he looms over Keith. Keith scoffs, glancing up at Shiro and crossing his arms a little tighter as Shiro uses his head as an armrest. “Do I look menacing enough?”

“Like you ever do, Father Lord,” Keith mutters, though his grin is fond as he slides out from under Shiro’s arm, hair a little messier than it was before. Good thing that was in character for Zuko. Lance catches Keith’s gaze, playful and friendly, and relief fills his chest. Maybe Keith’s stiff posture and pouting had all been in his head after all.

“Nice, Keith,” Lance says as he quirks an eyebrow and slides next to the other boy, both of them walking toward the artist gallery. Lance doesn’t bother to see if any of them are following. He stops, giving Keith a serious look as he speaks, voice filled with mock sadness. “My first girlfriend turned into the moon.”

“That’s rough, buddy,” Keith answers in a perfect imitation of Zuko’s voice, sympathetic and deeply awkward at the same time. They stare at each other for a moment before they both break out into wide smiles. Lance wonders how many references he and his new friend can make before the end of the con (later Hunk tells him the answer is far too many, but it doesn’t wipe the grin off of Lance’s face).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shiro is Ozai (https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/4/4a/Ozai.png/revision/latest?cb=20130612170743)  
> Hunk is Aang (https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/9/96/Aang_talks_with_Bumi.png/revision/latest?cb=20130706163844)  
> Allura is Katara (https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/d/d2/Katara_in_thought.png/revision/latest?cb=20121110202144)  
> Lance is Sokka (https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/e/e4/Sokka_speeches.png/revision/latest?cb=20110112192727)  
> Pidge is Earthbending (https://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/avatar/images/8/8f/Earthbending.png/revision/latest?cb=20130620112648)  
> Keith is Zuko (http://dvdmedia.ign.com/dvd/image/article/876/876601/avatar-the-last-airbender-book-3-fire-volume-3-20080526011209308-000.jpg)


	2. Yuri On Ice

It’s three weeks later when Lance realizes he’s done the impossible. He’s become _friends_ with Keith Shirogane. The other boy comes to every meeting, quiet and a little aloof, but with small smiles and quiet moments that are slowly melting Lace’s long-held animosity for Keith. It’s hard to dislike someone when get excited while explaining the plot of _Tokyo Babylon_ (As though Lance hasn’t read it before), gaze bright and words coming out in awkward sentences that always go on just a little too long.

Keith is awkward and a little clingy with his big brother when he’s not glaring at everyone, and it’s kind of endearing. Keith’s making friends with everyone else too, sitting next to Hunk with his legs crossed underneath him. Speaking of Hunk, who was glancing around the room with a kind of nervous energy, eyebrows raised just a little too high, Lance has business with him. “So, Hunk what it’ll be for this con? It’s your turn to pick the group costume.”

“We haven’t done anything with some … romance in awhile,” Hunk begins, wriggling his eyebrows purposefully as he glances from person to person, some of his nervousness fading as Allura smiles knowingly. Lance thinks he’s in dangerous territory; Allura and Hunk are notorious gossips, and they know everything about everyone in this club. Keith winces at the word romance, crossing his arms and staring at the floor grumpily. “And since winter is coming –“

“No,” Shiro mutters, catching on just as Lance does. He can practically see the ice skates dancing across Hunk’s eyes.

“Yes. We’re doing _Yuri on Ice_ , Hunk insists, gaze firm as he looks from person to person. Keith lets out a small groan, shaking his head so some of his bangs fall across his face. His hair is starting to get past the mullet phase, and Lance wonders if Shiro is a good enough brother to hide all of Keith’s scissors. He shifts his gaze back to Hunk, whose gaze becomes determined as he suddenly moves to the center of Allura’s living room. “Don’t make those faces, I know you all liked it and I’m going to be an amazing Yuuri.”

“Yeah, you will be, buddy,” Lance agrees with a small sigh, and Hunk beams at him, gaze soft and warm as he sits down on the couch as everyone else nods one by one. Lance glances thoughtfully over to where Shiro is sitting between Keith and Allura, arms spread out on the couch behind him. “So I guess that makes Shiro Viktor, since he’s the only one taller than you.”

“Or with grey hair,” Keith adds dryly as he takes a sip of his apple juice (Keith has the same tastes as a 9 year old). Lance snickers, loud enough to earn a small glare from Shiro. Lance rolls his shoulders, grinning back softly. Shiro is still his idol, but seeing the more casual side of him over the past few months has taken the hero worship edge off.

“Brat,” Shiro murmurs as he punches Keith on the arm, muttering something under his breath Lance can’t quite make out. Keith sticks out his tongue; gaze playful as Shiro looks off into the distance like he’s in an old school western. Who knew these perfect seeming assholes were so extra? “Perfect for who you’ll be.”

Keith raises an eyebrow at Shiro’s words, lips puckering around his juice box as he takes another sip. Lance blinks a little and then nods, realizing what Shiro is suggesting. Keith is so perfect for it that Lance almost wants to cry, because that’s too cons in a row where Keith and his grumpy cat face have turned out to be perfect. Who would’ve thought pouting fit so many characters? Keith cocks his head though, gaze open and curious, and for a second Lance imagines him as someone a little softer. “What do you mean?”

“Well obviously I’m gonna be Otabek since I still have this rad undercut from Sokka last month, and Allura is going to be Sara or Mila,” Lance explains leaning forward so he’s closer to Keith, smirking as he sees horror slowly dawning in the other boy’s gaze. “And since Pidge can’t go this month, you’re the only one short enough to be Yurio.”

“I’m not that short!” Keith snaps, dropping his juice box down on the table with a small sigh. Shiro suddenly presses one arm down on Keith’s head, using him as an armrest as though to demonstrate just how small Keith is. Lance is pretty sure the glare Keith gives Shiro in this moment could melt iron, but Shiro just digs his elbow in a little deeper so Keith’s hair goes everywhere. Truly the bravest man Lance has ever met.

“Plus, you have the same personality,” Pidge points out with a small laugh as she hands Keith a book with a picture of Mothman on the cover. Keith’s eyes light up in a way Lance finds concerning, though he goes back to glaring at them all a second later, as though just now catching what Pidge said.

“We do not!” Keith snaps, pouting as his cheeks flush in anger and he crosses his arms – and then the flush deepens, gaze going from heated to embarrassed as he seems to realize how he’s acting. He lets out a small groan, earning a bright laugh from Hunk, one tinged with his victory.

Lance just grins, smirking and raising one eyebrow as he catch’s Keith's gaze and sends him a knowing look. Keith’s eyes widen before he smirks in understanding. “Guessing you’re not gonna try and argue that again?”

“I’m not dying my hair blond,” Keith mutters, but the smirk and sudden determination doesn’t go away as he and Lance give each other a conspiratorial nod. Lance has always been competitive, always sought out a challenge. Keith used to be one of them, but now Lance has someone who gets it, who knows that every con is a chance to prove you’re a badass. And he’s really relieved Keith isn’t dying his hair because it’s enough of a disaster already.

 

* * *

Keith knocks on Lance’s door, having been told to stop by via text a few minutes ago. He’s never been to Lance’s dorm before, club meetings always at Allura’s and lunch always in the cafeteria or at a nearby restaurant. Keith didn’t mean to start having lunch with everyone everyday, but then Keith didn’t mean to socialize with people is the theme of the month. So what’s one more hang out? He’s still nervous when the door swings open, Lance’s smile warm and his curls falling across his forehead in a way that almost like art. Keith swallows at the same time he speaks. “Hey Lance?”

“What’s up, Keith?” Lance asks as he ushers him inside, Keith glancing around the room softly. It’s about half the size of his and Shiro’s tiny apartment, though only one room, and surprisingly neat in comparison. One bed has a bright yellow comforter, desk covered in pieces of a computer and a picture of a smiling girl with a bright blue bob and deep brown eyes. That must be Shay, Hunk’s girlfriend who went to a different college. He turns his gaze to the other bed, the comforter blue with at least six pillows in various shades of navy. The desk next to it has a laptop and three pictures of Lance’s niece.

“Pidge said you’re good at wigs,” Keith mutters when he realizes he’s just been staring at Lance’s bed without saying anything, opening his bag. He pulls out a blond shoulder length wig, Lance eyeing it with interest. “I’m not.”

Lance stares at him blankly for a second, not saying anything. Keith bristles a little, crossing his arms and wondering if he misread the situation. He thought he and Lance are friends, or at least getting there, but maybe Lance still thinks he’s an asshole. Keith isn’t great at reading facial expressions and Lance isn’t even really making one, so he doesn’t have a lot to go off of here. Then Lance’s eyes widen in delayed shock. “Wait _you_ need help?”

“Yeah,” Keith throws out with a shrug, because that is what he just said. Lance cocks his head, giving him a once over as though he’s looking for a trick. Keith blinks owlishly; returning the look with his own confused one. Did Shiro tell Lance he was really good at making wigs? Why would Shiro lie about that?

Lance breaks out into a bright grin, shaking his head a little as he sits down on his bed, gaze still bemused as he watches Keith spread the wig out on his lap. Keith glances back at him, biting his lip as waits for Lance to give him a yes or a no. Lance does neither, because people are never as simple as Keith wants them to be. That’s why he likes cryptids. At least they’re supposed to be mysterious. “You, the great Keith Shirogane?”

“ _Kim_ , and not really sure where you’re going with this,” Keith mutters and he knows his voice is too harsh on the first word, too filled with hurt Lance doesn’t know. He glances down at his lap, eyebrows sloping before meeting Lance’s gaze, soft and surprisingly kind. He somehow sounds thankful and exasperated at the same time on his next words. “Are you gonna help me or not?”

“Sure, can’t have any of us looking bad,” Lance says with a laugh as he pats the space next to him. Keith sits down, handing the wig over to Lance with a small, crooked smile. Lance grins over at him, gaze almost teasing as he bumps Keith’s shoulder. “I’m just surprised because you’re good at everything.”

“Trust me, I’m not,” Keith answers with a scoff, smile sliding back into his usual frown as he glances away from Lance to hide the surprise in his gaze. Keith isn’t … he knows he gets good grades and is good at sports, that Shiro probably talks him up. But Keith spent 13 years hearing about how he was a bad seed, a mistake, and a flaw in the system. It doesn’t just go away overnight and well, they’re right about him. Keith isn’t good at anything that lasts. “I’m bad at most things that count.”

“Seem pretty good at astrophysics,” Lance says back, smile growing softer as he nudges Keith with his shoulder, though there’s something a little gentler about it now. Keith can’t help smiling again, small and crooked, wondering if his thoughts show in face. They never did before. Lance’s grin grows wider, more playful, on his next words. “But I look forward to learning your flaws, Keith.”

Lance spends the next half hour working on his wig, making Keith try it on and measuring and cutting every few seconds until it’s the right length and volume for them to mirror the style he had in Welcome to The Madness, bun small and tight in the back and the rest flowing loose around his face. Keith idly wonders if he can do that with his real hair yet as Lance slides the wig in place. Keith stares at his own reflection for a few seconds, blinking at his reflection. Lance’s wig work is impeccable. Keith’s face under it is not. “Good thing I didn’t dye it.”

“Yeah, blond is probably not your color,” Lance admits with a small laugh, though there’s something appreciative in his gaze as he moves the wig a little bit on Keith’s head. Keith watches as a blond bang falls across his face, and tries to see what Lance is seeing. Mostly he just still sees a kid who looks questionable in a blond wig and a red hoodie.

“One of my flaws,” Keith murmurs with a small grin, glancing up at Lance from underneath the wig. Lance lets out a chortle, shaking his head a bit as starts taking the wig off of Keith. His hair is a mess now, sticking in every direction and brushing his face. He looks a little like when he cosplayed as Hiro Hamada three years ago.

“Dork,” Lance laughs, shaking his head as he tries to smooth down some of Keith’s hair, apparently used to playing stylist. Keith flushes, surprised at himself because it wasn’t like Lance is flirting with him. Keith knows what Lance is like when he is, and it isn’t this subtle. Plus, Lance looks like that and Keith looks like this.

“Like you’re any better,” Keith mutters, shaking his head a bit as Lance finally admits defeat and hands him a brush. Keith starts combing his hair, watching Lance smooth down the wig with careful precision. He has long, slender fingers, just like the rest of him – and none of this is helping the flush he’s just willed away. “So umm. Which Yuri and Otabek do you wanna do? Street clothes are probably too easy.”

“That is how you already dress,” Lance mumbles, glancing at Keith on the bed with an almost mournful look. Keith rolls his eyes, leaning back on Lance’s bed with a shrug. He likes layers. “A lot people will probably do Welcome to the Madness, but then a lot of people have already done their skating costumes from the last bit too, so I guess that doesn’t really matter.”

“Yeah, and you know, I got the gloves,” Keith mutters shyly, though there’s a glint to his eyes as he meets Lance’s own, Lance’s smirk growing as the vision comes to life in both their eyes. They’re going to blow everyone’s minds. 

 

* * *

“As you can see, I’m the epitome of bad boy in my look, so much so that only one person can beat me. Yuri Plitsetsky,” Lance calls out, gesturing at the curtain where Keith comes sliding through, the gold of his cross glinting off the bright lights of Allura’s living room, jacket a deep magenta and wrapped way too tight around Keith’s shoulders. He looks terrified. “Keith, stop blushing.”

“Yeah, can’t really control that,” Keith mumbles as he crosses his arms a little, flush deepening as everyone glances over at his face. Lance wonders how Keith is going to handle all of the people at the con if he can’t handle five. Maybe he can just keep his sunglasses on the whole con. That feels like something Yuri would do if he went to a con, so maybe they could wing it?

“Fair point,” Lance says after a beat, giving Keith a small smile as he glances at him. Keith grins back, small and shy, and Lance’s heart skips a beat even as he notes that he can’t do that the con. Or maybe he can, since Lance is Otabek and that’s the one person Yuri smiles at besides his grandpa. They’ll figure it out. “We’ll work on it for the con.”

“Or you could wear different costumes,” Shiro throws out, looking hopeful as he glances between them, his own costume glowing in the light, the bright lights complimenting the form fitting purple jacket. Apparently they all went for the exhibition costumes.

“Kind of already made these, Shiro,” Lance says slowly, gesturing at his faux leather jacket pointedly. That took hours, maybe even a full day, to make. He doesn’t have time or money to start over with Otabek’s free skate look now.

“Yeah, but Keith is … it’s a lot of skin, if he takes the jacket off,” Shiro says with a small sigh, glancing over at Keith, who wraps the jacket around himself even more as he crosses his arms defensively. Lance rolls his eyes a little, shaking his head at Shiro’s overprotective act. Keith’s 18 and looks like a model, he’s kind of fighting a losing battle there.

“You could make it dramatic, have your Viktor throws his shirt over Yurio,” Lance throws out with a low chuckle, giving Shiro a pointed look, thinking his words will make Shiro realize that he sounds a little ridiculous (and Lance knows a _lot_ about sounding ridiculous).

Except no, because Shiro gives Keith a considering look, as though he’s genuinely considering ripping off his jacket mid-show to throw it over. Keith sighs, shaking his head at his brother as he finally uncrosses his arms. “Shiro, Don’t. I’ll just leave the jacket on.”

“Keith, I can’t believe you’d insult art like that,” Lance mutters, shaking his head in mock disgust, wagging one finger to shame Keith. Keith snickers, pushing his finger away as he takes a seat next to Hunk on the couch, careful not to muss his jacket.

“You’re all going to look ridiculous. Take lots of pictures for me?” Pidge asks with a small smile, gaze a wistful as she took in their costumes. Lance smiled back at her, gaze growing soft and a little bittersweet as he glanced over at his younger friend. This would be the first con they didn’t go to together to in nearly three years. But some things were more important.

“Of course,” Keith promises with a bright grin, glancing at her over his sunglasses and looking every inch the punk he’s imitating. The effect fades when he frowns, mouth small as he pulls off his glasses and gives the confused look Lance has become deeply familiar with over the past few weeks. For a nerd, Keith knows nothing of meme culture. “Hey, why can’t you go again?"

“Matt and Dad get their assignment that day,” Pidge answers with a low exhale, gaze dropping to her hands as she seems to focus on it. Shiro pats her on the shoulder, whispering something about grabbing her a drink before getting up to go to the kitchen. Lance wonders if he’s texting Matt to let him know to spend more time with his sister this week. He wonders if he’s doing that with Keith now.

Keith though, gives her a quick nod, smile soft and a little … jealous? Lance cocks his head at that, biting his own lip in confusion. “Oh right, hopefully they get somewhere cool.”

“Not what I’m worried about,” Pidge says, voice careful as she gives Keith a pointed look, gaze narrowing a little as Keith stared back at her blankly. Keith blinks a little, subtext apparently lost on him as the tension in the room starts to grow. “Aren’t you worried about Shiro getting sent somewhere dangerous, or that you might if you do sign up like you’re planning?”

“Shiro and Matt and your dad all knew what they were signing up for Pidge,” Keith answers back, voice tight and a little harsh as he shrugs, expression empty of any of his usual heat. Lance stiffens, because he knows Keith doesn’t feel that way (even if Keith doesn’t) and because Pidge doesn’t deserve that tone. “It’s for the greater good of the world, you can’t just think about your own families. Everyone has families.”

“Keith,” Lance calls as he slides on the couch next to him, gaze sharp though his smile was tender, because he knows Keith isn’t trying to be a jerk. Not going by the slightly sheepish look in his gaze and the way he won’t meet Pidge’s shocked gaze now. Lance doesn’t even think she’s offended, just confused. “Everyone has families, yeah, but everyone’s families are important especially to them. You trying to tell me you’re not gonna fall apart if Shiro gets assigned somewhere dangerous?”

“I’ll be letting him down if I do,” Keith answers back, voice cold as he looks away from Lance, crossing his arms. His entire body language shifts from what it’s been the past month, open and loose, back to the cool aloofness Keith has in class. Lance is annoyed by the shift, by Keith just deciding to shut him out when Lance started pushing, though the slight bitterness on his next words still make Lance feel bad. “That’s just how I see it.”

“Well maybe that’s not how the rest of us or the Holts do,” Lance snaps back, not able to keep his own annoyance out of his voice. Pidge hasn’t said anything yet, but she nods softly as Keith looks between them, his expression still blank save his eyebrows, sloping down angrily so he almost looks like he’s glaring.

“I’m sorry Pidge,” Keith says after a beat, voice surprisingly sincere as he gives her a look Lance doesn’t understand, half regret and half pain. Pidge nods wordlessly in return. Keith’s gone by the time Shiro gets back with Pidge’s tea.

 

* * *

Keith waits by where he’s supposed to meet Lance, glancing over at the stands with faked interest. He’s too nervous to shop right now. Lance might not show up, or he might go off with Hunk and Allura and Shiro instead. Keith can’t blame Lance if he does; he let everyone see him at his worst. Again. He’s apologized to Pidge twice since, told her that it was okay they had different views because they were different people. He thinks she’s forgiven him by the number of Dover Demon memes she’s sent him since finding out that’s where Matt and Mr. Holt we’re going.

But that didn’t mean Lance is still going to want to be friends with him.

“Hey, Keith,” Lance calls out and Keith turns on his heel to find Lance coming from the opposite direction, undercut perfectly styled and straightened, body long and lean in his leather jacket and skinny jeans. Even the gloves look better on him than they ever would Keith.

“Hey Lance,” Keith says back softly, staring at him over his sunglasses and thanking God this costume included them. Lance raises an eyebrow, frowning softly as Keith kicks the ground with one heel. He tries to smile, though he’s pretty sure it looks more like a grimace than anything else. He needs to say something, something clever or cool that will remind Lance why he’ll put up with him, at least for today. “You’re costume looks good.”

Well fuck.

“Yours does too, though I have to admit you’re a little overdressed,” Lance says as he gives Keith a once over, wriggling his eyebrows a little. Then he leans over and gently pulls of Keith’s sunglasses, folding them in his hands before pushing them into Keith’s. Keith stares at them blankly for a second before tossing them in his bag and hoping they don’t get crushed. They’re Hinata’s.

Keith takes a deep breath, gaze growing determined as he slopes his eyebrows together and stands up straight. Keith’s never been one to run away from his fears (just his feelings). “Lance –“

“Pidge told me you apologized,” Lance cuts him off with a small grin, cocking his head a little and giving Keith a surprisingly fond look. Keith’s mouth falls shut, expression growing sheepish as Lance throws an arm onto his shoulder, hand hanging down Keith’s back casually. Keith forces himself not to flush by glaring lightly at the other boy, though his gaze is more anxious than anything else. “And hey, I know you’re not perfect already, remember?”

“Oh, yeah,” Keith murmurs, voice soft and surprised as he stares up at Lance. People who aren’t Shiro don’t usually stick around once that becomes clear. Keith genuinely doesn’t know where to go from here, so he smiles crookedly at Lance until the other boy suddenly grabs him by the arm with a smirk.

“So now, let’s focus on the future and get us some charms,” Lance crows, glancing over at the booths around them filled with all kinds of art and charms and a few hoodies Keith wouldn’t mind buying. He still laughs a little at Lance’s enthusiasm, glancing down at his bag pointedly.

“You already have five on your bag,” Keith points out, shaking his head a little as he leans over to poke a charm of Yamcha pointedly. Also Yamcha? Really?

“You can never have enough,” Lance defends, gaze full of conviction as he pulls the Yamcha charm from Keith’s grasp. Keith grins up at him playfully; gaze playful as he considers reaching for the Shoto Todoroki charm on the other side of the bag. It’s cute, and Keith feels strangely touched that Lance likes a character relates to, at least enough to have a toy version of him. Lance catches his line of vision and turns on his heel, glancing at Keith’s own bag with a small sigh. “Besides, you don’t have any, and Yurio needs some cute cat charms.”

“I’m not actually Yurio,” Keith reminds him with a snort as he takes a step toward the booth Lance was looking at anyway, noticing now that they do have a few cat charms and artwork now that he’s closer. He glances back at Lance with a secretive smile, lips twisting as he leans in close to the other boy. “I do look like cats though.”

“Of course you do,” Lance scoffs a little, wriggling his eyebrows as he starts walking ahead of Keith. Keith stops, pulling off his jacket – and stops halfway through as he remembers his basically backless tank top. Right. Lance catches his gaze and raises an eyebrow, a challenge in his gaze as he licks his lips. Keith has never backed down from one of those before, and he pulls the jacket off in one swift moment.

“Ohh, dramatic jacket drop, people are watching you,” Lance teases, tone playful even as he stares at Keith with wide eyes, eyebrows shooting up as he takes in Keith’s arms. Keith smirks a little, cocking his head and catching Allura and Shiro staring at them from the corner of his eye. He carelessly throws his jacket at Shiro the same way Yuri threw it to the side in the anime and took a step toward Lance. “Allura’s gonna be mad at you.”

“Probably, want to blow everyone’s minds with me?” Keith asks, his own voice surprising him with the nervous, almost angry energy behind it as he holds one hand out, arm stretched out and gaze wild as he stares at Lance.

“Anytime, Keith,” Lance says with a smirk before pulling his first glove off in one swift moment, smirking down at Keith like Lance was dangerous. Keith flushes but he’s gone too far to stop now, left arm shooting out as he smirks back at the other boy. Keith doesn’t realize just how deep he’s in until he feels Lance’s tongue brush against his skin as he pulls the other glove off with his mouth.

This probably isn’t normal friend behavior. He’ll have to ask Shiro later when he remembers how to breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone enjoys this chapter! And please feel free to throw out any anime you'd like to see them all cosplay, I have the last two chapters outlined plot wise, but not costume wise!
> 
> Hunk is Yuuri (https://68.media.tumblr.com/890b3df77a9a5b9503c6f5b2cfc2c0ef/tumblr_inline_omvriyIjuC1r7a5il_500.jpg)  
> Shiro is Viktor (https://akibento-leadnationmedia.netdna-ssl.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/tumblr_oil6qns8T21seha0ho5_1280.jpeg)  
> Allura is Mila (https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/yurionice/images/f/fd/MilaArt.png/revision/latest?cb=20161103041958)  
> Lance is Otabek (also jacket less Keith) (https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&biw=896&bih=810&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=otabek+welcome+to+the+madness+glove&oq=otabek+welcome+to+the+madness+glove&gs_l=psy-ab.3...4311.6803.0.7251.5.5.0.0.0.0.117.406.4j1.5.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.116...0.nZ_3vda6Q2w#imgdii=5N1r53cGU5uqpM:&imgrc=1E3ljHJVXlQcwM:)  
> Keith is Yurio (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/e9WQny5XOgo/maxresdefault.jpg)


	3. Naruto

Keith and Lance don’t talk about the glove incident after the con. They still hang out everyday for the rest of November, and at some point Lance starts walking Keith to class, early morning conversations and brushes of hands that leave Keith breathless and confused. Once Lance wraps his pale blue scarf around Keith’s neck, fingers resting against his cheek for a moment before they pull back just a little too quickly to be casual. Even after they both leave for Christmas break, Keith and Lance keep messaging each other every day, and Hunk and Pidge too. Keith hasn’t had this many Facetime calls in his life. But only Lance’s make him flush, butterflies crashing in his stomach each time.

They still don’t talk about the incident with the gloves.

“I think I might have a crush on Lance,” Keith murmurs one day, sitting on the soft red couch in their house, knees pressed up against his chest. Shiro looks over his book at him, frowning a little as he sets his papers aside. They’re from the Garrison and Shiro’s gaze grows nervous every time he looks at them. Keith wants to ask, but every time he opens his mouth, Shiro changes the subject. So Keith decides they might as well focus on his big problem until Shiro’s ready to start talking.

“Yeah, kind of guessed that when you let him bite your glove off,” Shiro answers with a shrug, smile teasing as he leans forward, elbows pressed into his knees. Keith lets out a small groan, shaking his head causing his bangs to fall across his face. Apparently he’s more obvious than he thought. Keith wishes his poker face held up better with Shiro. Or with Lance, for that matter.

Keith takes a deep breath, moving forward on the couch until he’s right next to Shiro. He gives his brother a pained look, gaze wide and curious. He was out of his element here, and that was rare for Keith. “What do I do?”

“Kind of up to you to decide, Keith,” Shiro says back gently, ruffling his air before picking up his papers again with a small frown. Keith is about to poke Shiro in the chest, demand he help him decide if he should ask Lance out or never talk to Lance again when he sees the words in the corner of his file. Specialist Unit – Recovery Missions. Classified. Keith knows what that means.

Shiro’s been assigned to the unit for the most dangerous, most secretive missions in the Garrison, the ones the Garrison doesn’t want the world they’re undertaking. They’re also by far the one with the highest death count. Keith tries to remember what he said to Pidge even as his stomach feels like it’s falling out of his chest. “If you want to ask Lance out, ask him out.”

“Right,” Keith mutters, voice weak as he curls his legs into his chest again. Shiro raises an eyebrow and then catches his gaze and gives him an empty smile. It’s a strained holiday that year. 

* * *

On January 12, the anime team is back together in Allura’s living room; _Orange_ paused at the opening titles on the screen behind them. They really needed to start picking more cheerful movies. Lance grins over at everyone, gaze growing a little nervous when he gets to Keith. Lance … Lance doesn’t know where their relationship is going yet. They’ve been … he’s pretty sure they’ve been flirting ever since the glove thing, but he’s also not sure Keith knows what flirting is.

Lance wants to just ask him out, but he wants to make sure he’s right about Keith liking him first. Most people Lance flirts with are strangers or acquaintances, but Keith is his friend now, Pidge’s and Hunk’s and Allura’s friend now too. Lance doesn’t want to do anything to risk that or the careful balance their friend group has taken, the trust and bond growing between them. But he _does_ really want to kiss Keith. But that isn’t important right now. Lance has a mission.

“It’s my turn guys, and I want to do a classic, something that’s … been done a lot, but then so has Avatar and Yuri on Ice, and this series is a classic for a reason. I want us to be the group that does it best,” Lance says as he stands up in the center of the room, arms out-stretched. Lance sees the way their eyes start to light up, images of _Sailor_ _Moon_ and _Pokémon_ likely dancing through their minds. Maybe even _Cowboy Bebop_. Lance almost feels bad about disappointing them. Almost. “ _Naruto_.”

Everyone in the room groans in almost perfect unison, Shiro running his hands through his hair with a low sigh. Next to him, Keith crosses his arms and lowers his eyebrows as he gives Lance a pointed look. “Does that mean I have to be Sasuke?”

“Of course it does, Keith, look at you. Look in the mirror and tell me who else you could possibly be?” Lance tells him with a small shake of his head when he sees Keith’s eyes widen a little, because how is Keith surprised every month at being cast as most obvious character? It’s almost kind of cute, in a way. Lance grins a little more, glancing behind Keith to where Shiro sits at the end of the sofa. “Plus, now Shiro can be Itachi and how perfect is that?”

“Thanks,” Shiro murmurs dryly, rolling his eyes a little. Lance remembers then that Shiro is not an Itachi fan. Oh well, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s perfect for it, and Lance knows Shiro knows that.

“Hey, let’s skip the potential _Naruto_ discourse and focus on what an awesome Kakashi I’ll make,” Hunk throws out, smile wide as he claims his favorite character from himself. Lance grins back, and next to him he sees Keith nod approvingly out of the corner of his mind. It makes sense, Hunk would be a good teacher and he’s the most handsome one here.

“Of course, but are we doing original _Naruto_ or _Shippuden_?” Pidge throws out, raising an eyebrow as she touches her hair with a thoughtful smile. Lance wonders if she’s considering actually dying it pink if they do the latter half of the show, or if she’s afraid he’ll try and make her do that. Either way honestly makes it worth it alone, though Lance already decided which part of Naruto they were doing ages ago.

“ _Shippuden_ , we’re all adults,” Lance reminds her with a shrug, though Pidge is only 17 and just a genius who skipped a grade. Then Lance turns his gaze away from Pidge and back to Keith, whose still pouting, lips pressed down and small. Lance rolls his eyes and then playfully gestures towards him. “Besides, Keith will look way better in Sasuke’s Orochimaru Heibi costume.”

Keith raises an eyebrow, cocking his head as he leans toward Lance. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just that no one looks good in a one piece or baggy hoodies,” Lance says back with a bright grin, trying to hide the nervousness in his gaze as he feels everyone’s eyes on him. He kind of forgot they were with everyone else for a second. But the ones in front of him, shocked and a little hopeful as Keith stares at Lance, are the most important. Lance forces a confidence he doesn’t feel as he tries to lighten the mood. “Besides, we know from last time Keith knows how to work a look.”

“You mean I know how to go places half dressed?” Keith drawls, cocking his head a little as he stares at Lance. There’s something challenging in his gaze. Then Keith smirks, slow and teasing as though he somehow knows how sexy Lance found him dressed up as Yurio, maybe even how sexy Lance find shim right now in his oversized sweater and pants he worries might be jeggings (he can’t have a crush on someone who wears jeggings).

“Keith Kim, I’m shocked,” Lance finally mutters, throwing a hand over his heart and dramatically collapsing against the couch. Keith lets out a small laugh that’s more like a giggle, leaning back on the couch so there are only a few inches between them.

“Well you know what they say, the Uchiha are _fiery_ ,” Keith murmurs with absolutely more confidence than he should have, because that was terrible. Lance laughs anyway, soft at first and then louder, the rest of the room slowly joining in after a few seconds. Keith stares down at the couch cushion, flushing a little, though his gaze is bright in a way that makes Lance gaze grow tender.

Hunk suddenly grins widely, sitting up and pointing at Keith dramatically. Lance raises an eyebrow, wondering what has Hunk so excited. “Hey, Sasuke Keith is funny!”

“Sasuke could be funny sometimes – wait no, I mean I can be funny,” Keith snaps, arms flailing a little as he realizes his mistake halfway through his sentence. Another round of snickers starts, and Keith joins in after a moment, hard enough that he ends up leaning against. Lance pretends not to notice when Keith stays there the entire movie. 

* * *

“Hey guys,” Keith mutters as he arrives at their lunch table with a bowl of cereal in one hand and his Garrison application in the other. Keith’s been up all night trying to perfect it, but it still isn’t good enough. His has to be as good as Shiro’s if he’s going to end up on the same team someday. Lance moves over a little so Keith can sit on his part of the bench. Keith freezes as his own thoughts, that it’s his spot. Keith’s not sure when he started having lunch with the anime club most days, but he does and the thought scares him and warms his heart at the same time. Keith has friends.

“You still got a paper in front of you?” Hunk asks as Keith sits down, eyebrows scrunching before he lets out a disappointed sigh. He points to Keith’s cereal and then to himself and Pidge, and Keith blinks. Does Hunk want him to give them his cereal? “Keith, lunch is a time for friendship, not work.”

Oh, yeah, that makes more sense.

“The Garrison doesn’t agree with you,” Keith says with a small groan as he goes over the first half of his application again. Personal qualities. Describing them has never been Keith’s strong suit. Words never have been, for that matter. Keith doesn’t know why he needs to write essays to pilot a plane and study plants in the first place. But if this is what it takes to get into the Garrison, Keith is going to make it work.

Lance though, stops midway into his bite of sandwich, eyebrows shooting up as his other hand slams against the table. Lance stares at him, shock and worry mixing in his gaze as he turns his head to stare at Keith. Keith has no idea where any of this is coming from, giving Lance a blank look. “Wait, you’re applying to the Garrison?!”

“Aren’t you?” Keith asks Lance, frowning a little as Lance shakes his head. He’s never checked with anyone else, just assumed they all wanted to go to the Garrison since they’re all STEM majors. It’s one of the top government careers for their line of work after all, and they’re only a few miles away from their main base. Keith decided to join the moment he found out that’s where Shiro wanted to go and never looked back.

“No, I’m going for NASA, maybe?” Lance answers after a beat with a shrug, the shock fading but the worry still lingering as he glances down at Keith’s application as though it’s the enemy. Keith glares at Lance softly, brows scrunching together in slight confusion. “I mean, I don’t really know, honestly. We’re freshman, maybe we won’t even stay in STEM.”

“Me too, with dad and Matt at the Garrison it wouldn’t be fair to mom,” Pidge throws out with a pointed look, and Keith winces a little as the text message from two months ago comes back to him. Keith gives her a small, crooked smile, shrugging a little because he’s fine if Pidge wants to work for NASA or build robots or whatever. But Keith knows where he’s going.

“Well, Shiro gets it,” Keith says, crossing his arms and grinning over at his brother. Shiro glances back at him with a small smile, but it doesn’t reach his gaze, shoulders stiffening a little as Keith watches him. Not the reaction he expected.

“I mean honestly, Keith? I’ll support you no matter what but … it’d be nice if you didn’t join the Garrison?” Shiro finally says after Keith keeps staring at him, wincing a little as he grabs his diet coke and takes an overly long ship. Keith waits for the punch line, for Shiro to add that it’s because he knows Keith is totally going to kick his ass once he gets there and ruin all of Shiro’s records.

It never comes. Shiro winces as Keith’s face falls, glare growing tighter with every passing second. “What?!”

“I mean, it makes sense,” Hunk says, voice hesitant as Keith twists around to stare at him instead, lips pressed into a thin line. Hunk really doesn’t have a place here, but Keith guesses that’s what he got for saying it in public. Hunk gives him a small smile, though his gaze is still a little anxious as he speaks. “Garrison missions have the highest injury and death rate of any military unit. No reason for both of you to risk your lives all the time. Or for either of you, but Shiro already joined.”

“Thanks, Hunk,” Shiro answers with a small laugh, shaking his head a little as Hunk blanches, seeming to realize the implication of his words a minute too late. Next to Shiro, Allura’s grip on her fork tightens a little. “I’ll be fine though.”

“Of course you will,” Keith says firmly, expression shifting into something warm and encouraging as he turns his gaze back to Shiro. He knows Shiro worries sometimes, that he’s not ready to be a Garrison captain and lead his own team. But Keith knows they couldn’t have anyone better than Shiro. He throws an arm around his shoulder, smiling up at him in a way people used to call adoring when he was little. “You’re one of the best soldiers they have.”

“You’re cute,” Lance murmurs softly and Keith can feel himself flushing as he turns to stare at the other boy. Lance grins back at him, wriggling his eyebrows a little as he takes in Keith’s face. Keith half expects Lance to pull on his ponytail. Lance’s gaze grows a little more serious when he finishes his sentence. “You shouldn’t join though.”

Keith crosses his arms, giving Lance an exasperated look and ignoring the soft snickers of everyone around him. “Lance!”

“I’m just saying, I’d miss you if you were in the Garrison and what if you ended up being Classified Secret like Shiro? No one would know where either of you were,” Lance says, and even though his tone is casual Keith can see the genuine worry in his gaze, the fear. People don’t make expressions like that over him, not outside of Shiro, It reminds him a little of how he felt when Shiro got assigned there a few weeks ago. Keith’s mostly pushed the fear down and focused on joining Shiro there someday, but seeing it reflected back at him in Lance’s gaze brings it back to the surface.

“Yeah, I guess I hadn’t thought of it like that,” Keith mutters softly before taking a bite of his cereal and stares down at his cheerios until they grow soggy and the conversation turns to Allura’s birthday.

 He doesn’t end up meeting the deadline for submitting the Garrison application. That’s okay. They have another admissions period in the spring. Keith will join then.

 

* * *

“How do I look?” Lance asks as he slides out of the hallway and into Allura’s living room, blond wig finally secured underneath his forehead protector. He poses with one arm bent at a 90-degree angle, the other holding his index finger up in front of him, grinning brightly as he stands in the center of the room. Hunk gives him two thumbs up, and Lance is pretty sure he’s smiling underneath his mask, going by how impressed his gaze is by Lance’s attention to detail.

“Orange,” Keith deadpans as he sticks his out from where he’s changing behind a privacy screen. Lance would ask why Allura has one, but then he remembers Allura’s dads basically raised her to be a fairy tale princess. Keith’s expression is as carefully blank as his words. It’s perfect for Sasuke but gives Lance an eerie case of déjà vu to the Keith from August he wasn’t friends with yet.

“Thanks, Keith,” Lance mutters, letting out a loud sigh as he slides over to stand next to Hunk. Keith’s blank expression thankfully shifts into a teasing smirk as Lance keeps speaking, his own mouth sliding into a playful grin. “You know the way to a boy’s heart.”

“You know you look good,” Keith points out with a shrug, or at least Lance thinks he did by the way his head bob, one of his perfectly made spikes wilting just a little from the movement. Lance reminds himself to pack hairspray for the con. Keith’s gaze shifts to Hunk, smiling as he gives his costume a once over. “It’s a perfect costume. And Hunk’s wig is A+.”

“Thanks, Keith, next time you need one I can help you out too,” Hunk offers with a warm grin, gaze shifting to Lance playfully, as though asking him to object to his offer. Lance regrets telling Hunk about his growing feelings for Keith, now that Hunk is using it to tease him in front of Keith. Hunk better be prepared to help him plan out the perfect seduction later.

“Thanks,” Keith throws out, eyebrows scrunching together as his gaze flits between the two of them. He touches his hair, looking a little self-conscious. “Kind of wish I’d gone with one this time. Lot of hairspray.”

“Well we wont know until we see all of it,” Lance points out in a drawling voice, because Keith has been standing behind that screen for several minutes without any rustling of clothes. So either he’s already dressed or he’s not bothering to try on his costume, and either way it’s not helping them figure out if they need to make any last minute adjustments. Keith flushes a little, like he did when dressed up as Yurio.

Then he pushes the screen aside, long white sleeves hanging down as he does, hiding Keith’s well-toned arms. That’s a pity, but the deep V (deeper, Lance thinks, than it was on Sasuke in canon) more than makes up for it. Lance doesn’t mean to stare, but he also didn’t expect Keith to have actual abs, firm and defined where they laid over his ribcage, which Lance can also see. “Well, what do you think?”

“So, you work out,” Lance says before he can stop himself, blanching a little as Keith’s eyes go wide. He’s tempted to add something teasing about how skinny Keith or the belt, but he forces himself to swallow them down because he _likes_ Keith. And if he’s going to win Keith over, he might as well start flirting now.

“I play tennis. And fence,” Keith says after a beat, shrugging a little and pulling his shirt a little more closed than it had been before, though it falls back open when he crosses his arm to glance nervously toward the floor. Lance though, isn’t even paying attention to Keith or his abs anymore.

“You fence?! Oh my god, you are a Shonen hero,” Lance shouts, grinning brightly as Keith looks back at him in annoyance, frown small and tight as he looks ready to argue. He can’t though, not really. Lance knows the exact type Keith is, all tragic backstory (it’s not for another month that he finds out that one is true), and aloofness to hide his heart of gold. He wonders if he can get Keith to do Seraph of the End. He’ll be a _great_ Yuu if he knows how to use a sword.

“Shut up,” Keith snaps back, though his tone is more flustered than anything else, glaring softly and not at all helping his own point. Keith seems to realize that, expression softening a little as his gaze grows wistful, hands playing with the edges of his oversized sleeves.. “But yeah, when I was a kid I used to think …”

Lance frowns as Keith trails off, shame filling his gaze as his eyes drop to the floor. Next to him Shiro looks worried, sliding a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Used to think?”

“That he could go to the Olympics someday if he kept at it, so did his coaches,” Shiro finishes for Keith, smile soft and proud as he leans over and ruffles his hair a little. Keith sticks his tongue out at him, some of the shame going out of his eyes. Lance stares at him, because of course Keith was so talented at a sport he could’ve gone to the Olympics. Lance feels his insecurity swell in his chest, rolling his eyes a little as Keith shrugs like it’s no big deal. Lance has never been Olympic hopeful for anything.

“But then you know. My personality,” Keith mumbles, glancing at Lance with a knowing look he clearly expects Lance to share. Lance blinks back at him, face blank because yeah, he doesn’t know where Keith’s going with this. He can be a little rough around the edges, hard to get to know, sure, but Keith is loyal and hardworking and devoted to anyone he trusts. He’s like a coach’s dream unless they’re bad at their jobs (which Lance is guessing Keith’s were). “I mean, there’s just as much chance I wouldn’t have come close to qualifying. I was like 15 when they said that.”

“Keith, you’re 18 _now_ , you could probably still go if you wanted to,” Lance says suddenly, smiling as he leans over to throw an arm over Keith’s shoulder, even as he realizes that Keith’s right and his insecurities fade a bit (he feels guilty about that, which never used to be the case). Keith returns it even as he shakes his head, expression soft and sincere so Lance knows he doesn’t regret going from apparently being some kind of sword master to just doing it for fun on their college club team.

“And you don’t even need a medal to be golden,” Keith answers as he leans forward and pokes Lance’s wig, grinning and looking up at Lance through his eyelashes. Lance bites his lip, trying to take this expression in for a moment, to imprint it on his DNA. Keith _is_ flirting with him, Lance has no doubts about it.

“I, wow Keith, thank you, but that was cheesy,” Lance says once he’s taken the moment in, a small snicker escaping his throat as he considers the rest of the situation. Because yeah, that’s so bad it’s adorable, and Keith is flirting with him while dressed up as Sasuke Uchiha. Everything about this situation is ridiculous. Keith pouts at him but soon starts giggling himself, spiky stiff hair brushing against Lance’s chin as he leans forward. Lance decides then that he’s going to ask Keith out after the con.                                                                                                                      

* * *

“Are you checking your phone again?” Lance’s voice rings out as Keith looks up with wide eyes, shocked by his voice cutting through his slow growing anxiety. Lance glances at him with a small frown, though his drawn on whiskers make it look more like a pout, expression a little miffed as he brushes a hand near Keith’s own. Keith knows he’s being a little rude, but he’s anxious. Shiro was supposed to be here nearly an hour ago, and Keith hasn’t seen him once.

“Shiro should’ve been here by now,” Keith tells him with a small sigh, crossing his arms as he takes a step toward Lance. He knows he’s being childish, but ever since Shiro got his Garrison designation, Keith’s been on edge. Finding out that Sam Holt broke his leg in two places on one of his recent missions, which wasn’t half as dangerous, didn’t help. Though Shiro is a lot younger than Sam and Keith takes some description of that.

“Hey, we all get here at different times, neither is Allura,” Lance points out with a grin, but his gaze is surprisingly kind as he throws an arm around Keith’s shoulder. Keith relaxes a bit because that’s true, and Shiro was notoriously bad at checking his messages at cons. Keith is being stupid.

“Yeah, maybe,” Keith mutters, shrugging a little as he tries to force his anxiety out of his face. Lance seems just as nervous as Keith is, and Keith is worried he’s spreading his bad mood and ruining everyone else’s good time too. Lance though, gives him a once over and snorts, shaking his head a little.

“Well at least you look the part,” Lance says as his snort turns into snickers, eyes bright and teasing as he takes in Keith’s attempt to hide his fears. Keith glares at him for a second, crossing his arms a little tighter, before he lets Lance’s infectious laugh overtake him, smiling softly as Lance nudges him with his shoulder.

“Nah, I haven’t attacked you yet,” Keith answers, tone deadbeat as he shrugs at Lance. Lance lets out another chortle of laughter, leaning toward Keith more, until his lanky frame is almost pressed against Keith’s own, making Keith flush a little as he glances up the other boy.

Lance grins a little as his gaze softens, voice dropping an octave as his hand brushes against Keith’s cheek. “Hey, Hunk was right, you can be funny.”

“Wow, thanks Lance,” Keith scoffs, rolling his eyes as he takes another step forward, the gap between them growing dangerously small. His gaze is painfully soft and hopeful as he glances up at Lance, because he wonders if maybe now is when he should decide if he’s going to do something about his crush on Lance. “And you over, the past few months, I’ve finally gotten why everyone thinks you are. Also are you getting a cold?”

“And I just remembered why I used to think you were an asshole,” Lance says in mock offense, dramatically tossing his head before cocks his head down to meet Keith eye to eye.

Keith smirks playfully, raising one eyebrow as Lance’s hands find their ways to his shoulders. Keith’s heart starts to beat a little faster in his chest. “Used to?”

“You’ve made a good second impression,” Lance admits with a shrug, gaze soft as he leans forward even more, until their faces are practically touching. Lance’s eyelashes are surprisingly long, Keith notices with a sharp intake of breath. Keith’s hands slide to Lance’s waist almost involuntarily, thumbs ghosting around the soft material of sweatshirt. Keith’s face heats up even more as Lance leans forward because he thinks maybe Lance is going to kiss him, is Lance going to kiss him?

Then Keith’s phone buzzes and he pulls back, gaze dropping to the screen below. Keith feels time stop as he reads the message, all of the air going out of him as he stumbles back from Lance and nearly knocks over the man dressed as Goku behind him. Keith knows he’s shaking, but he doesn’t even care as he keeps moving backward toward the entrance. Lance stares at him, carefully taking a step forward with worried eyes. “Keith?”

“Shiro got sent on a mission. Classified,” Keith answers, voice small and weak as he clutches his thrown so tightly he wouldn’t be surprised if the screen shattered. He’s not supposed to be this upset. He’s failing Shiro.

Lance winces, shaking his head a little as he slides an arm to Keith’s shoulder. He doesn’t smile, eyebrows sloping down as he tries to pull Keith towards him. Keith is too stiff to be moved or to move away from Lance, stuck in a limbo where all he can do is go over the statistics of how many people have died on these types of missions. It’s a lot. “Hey, he’s going to be okay –“

“There’s no way of knowing that,” Keith snaps, though there’s a watery quality to his voice that Keith can’t stand as he tears himself away from Lance’s grip. He stumbles the rest of the way to the door, taking quiet comfort in the sounds of Lance’s footsteps behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, if anyone can think of any group cosplays everyone could do in the last two chapters, please feel free to throw them out in the comments :).
> 
> Edited to add Visuals:
> 
> Keith is Sasuke (http://www.telecharger-syteme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/NARUTO-SHIPPUDEN-ULTIMATE-NINJA-STORM-4-icon-3.png)  
> Lance is Naruto (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/9d/86/30/9d86307c0138e16e19a3f7bbe509c678--naruto--naruto-uzumaki-shippuden.jpg)  
> Allura is Hinata (https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ae/59/35/ae593525881b4334458a5b3bdc0b06f9--hinata-cosplay-anime-naruto.jpg)  
> Pidge is Sakura (https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/narutotenseiadventure/images/f/fd/Sakura_fondo_blanco.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130319193714&path-prefix=es)  
> Shiro is Itachi (https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/naruto/images/9/9d/Itachi_full.png/revision/latest?cb=20160623120232)  
> Hunk is Kakashi (https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/naruto/images/2/2a/Kakashi_no_Ketsui.png/revision/latest?cb=20140515153452)


	4. Seraph of The End

It’s one week after Shiro leaves that Lance decides enough is enough with giving Keith space. He’s been avoiding them, skipping their biweekly club meetings and daily lunches. Keith still goes to class, but he stopped meeting Lance to walk together, Lance bearing the brunt of the cold by himself. Lance goes to Keith’s apartment one day to walk him, but Keith doesn’t answer the door. Lance still isn’t sure how Keith beat him to class.

(Though he’s pretty sure Keith climbed out the back window and down the fire escape, because the lengths Keith will go to avoiding a conversation he doesn’t want to have are truly impressive).

But enough is enough. Lance is afraid if he lets Keith close himself off for too long, things will go back to how they were in September, when he didn’t even know Keith. Lance can’t stand the thought, so he finds himself knocking on the door just a little too hard, knuckles turning white as his fists bang against the door. It swings open mid knock, Lance falling into a red sweater.

“Keith?” Lance murmurs as he pulls back, Keith staring at him with wide, wild eyes, as though he hadn’t expected Lance to show up, not just today, but at all. Lance pushes down the mild offense he feels at that, instead giving Keith an awkward smile, waving with one hand. “Can I come in?”

“One minute,” Keith murmurs, running a hand through his hair. It looks a little wild, sticking up everywhere. Keith is a little paler than usual, eyes red rimmed, though Lance can’t tell if it’s from a lack of sleep or crying. Either way it means Keith isn’t doing well, not that Lance can blame him. He’d be going out of his minds if it were one of his siblings. Keith suddenly takes a step back, letting Lance step inside the foyer. “Why are you here?”

Lance raises an eyebrow, mouth pressed into a thin line, as though trying to figure out if Keith’s serious. He glances around the apartment, small and threadbare, but with photos of a smiling, gangly teenager and a short child with a crooked smile. Lance wonders how old they are there. He takes a deep breath as he looks back to the current, grimacing Keith. “You haven’t been coming to meetings or lunch, or well, anything for the past week, except that one time when …”

“I accused you all of not caring about Shiro?” Keith asks with a small scoff, giving Lance a pointed look as he leans against the wall. Lance lets out a small exhale, running a hand through his hair. This isn’t how he wanted to start things.

“Yeah, that,” Lance admits with a grimace, gaze dropping to the floor as he remembers the one time they’d actually cornered Keith, after he skipped their own movie night and his turn to pick their cosplay. Lance doesn’t remember what they said, something about how they couldn’t win the cosplay contest without Keith. Seraph of the End has five main characters, after all. It’d set Keith off, his expression wild as he told them that he’s the only one who missed Shiro and stormed off before they could tell him that’s not what they meant.

“I’m sorry,” the Keith of now says in a small voice, expression blank as he stares at Lance. There’s no feeling in his gaze, none of the sweet awkwardness or heated passion Lance has gotten used to over the past four months. Keith just seems empty.

“No it’s – look, I get it, you miss him, we all do too,” Lance tells him, voice gentle as he reaches out one hand and lays it on Keith’s shoulder. Keith stares back at him, a flicker of something in his gaze, and Lance decides that’s a good sign. “It’s not the same, I know that, but you can talk to us about it, you know? And Allura and Pidge, they know how you feel. And Shiro … Shiro would want you and the club to keep doing things without him.”

Keith’s gaze drops to the wooden floorboards below them, his bare feet curling slightly. Lance wonders if that’s a tell, though for what emotion he doesn’t know. Lance wants to though; he wants to know all the little quirks and things that make up Keith and why they exist. Eventually Keith’s eyes go back to Lance’s face, gaze tight. “You’re right.”

“Of course I am,” Lance answers with a falsely smug grin, trying to bring back some sense of normalcy to the room. They’re going to be fine, they’re all going to help Keith through this and Keith will smile and roll his eyes when Lance teases him.

“Which is why I’m quitting the club,” Keith says, tone clipped and harsh as he stares at the wall in front of him. So much for fine. Keith shrugs his shoulders, smile bitter and sickeningly sweet as he stared over at Lance. It reaches nowhere near his eyes, and Lance feels his heart sink in his chest. This is about Shiro, but it’s about something else too, and Lance isn’t sure what. “Effective immediately.”

“What?” Lance mutters softly, even though he already knows he’s fighting a losing battle. Lance is only going in here with half the information, after all.

“Look, I gave it a try because Shiro wanted me to, but at the end of the day, I’m not a team player, we both know that,” Keith answers with a smirk, the same one Keith uses when they’re competing over quiz scores in class or when he knows he’s about to win a fencing match, or when he’s flirting with Lance but doesn’t realize that he is, and it feels like a betrayal.

“Keith, it’s cosplay not war,” Lance points out, voice a little desperate as he takes a step toward Keith. Keith jerks away from him so quickly that Lance nearly tumbles forward. Keith glances at him, expression unreadable, but for a second Lance thinks Keith considers changing his mind, reaching out to Lance with whatever he’s feeling. Then it’s gone.

“You still want to win, and you’re not gonna do that with me,” Keith answers coolly, taking another step back from Lance. Keith grimaces, though Lance thinks he’s going for a smug grin. The exhausted fear in his gaze ruins it, though. Lance wants to give him a hug more than anything, but they’ve never done that before. “And you can’t force me to stay.”

“No, I guess I can’t,” Lance says instead, glancing down at his blue tennis shoes with a tight frown. He thought … he thought this was going to go differently. That Keith would realize he missed them and come back. Instead Lance finds himself awkwardly shuffling near his front door, Keith looking like he wants to burn himself out just to prove he can.

The look Keith gives him now is harsher, eyebrows sloped down and lips pressed into a thin line. Lance knows it’s as much anxiety as it is rage now, but that doesn’t really make a difference right now. Lance doesn’t know how to help either. Keith glances at the door and raises an eyebrow. “Did you need anything else?”

“No, I guess not,” Lance says as he takes a step toward the door, grabbing the handle, because he can take a hint when Keith spits it in his face. Still, he can’t help glancing back at Keith, whose expression has slid into something sad, frown softening and eyes glassy. “You can call us, you know.”

“Yeah,” Keith mumbles, a small smile flicking across his face before Lance closes the door. Lance packs that smile away in his memory, trying to keep up hope that it means Keith just needs a few more days. Still, Lance takes a leisurely walk to the commons where everyone else is waiting for him (them), mind heavy with the expressionless face and harsh voice, how far away Keith felt. He knows his smile looks fake when he arrives where everyone is sitting.

“Keith’s quitting, so we should probably aim for a show with less characters,” Lance says without preamble, his voice tired to his own ears. Pidge nods with a tight frown, though there’s no surprise in her gaze. Allura looks away, crossing her arms and Lance smiles a little at how much she reminds him of Keith then. Lance bets they’ll become better friends, when Keith comes back. If.

“No, let’s still do _Seraph of The End_ ,” Hunk says in a surprisingly firm voice, gaze determined as he glances over at Lance. It had been Keith’s choice and Hunk seems confident he’ll come back. Lance wishes he felt the same way. “Did he say why?”

“He’s … not a team player,” Lance murmurs as he sits down next to his friend on the couch, not really listening as his friends talk about who will be who. Lance just knows, one way or the other, he’s going to be missing his cosplay partner.

* * *

It’s another week after Lance tries to get Keith to open up when Shiro comes home. Keith just wishes it hadn’t been straight to the hospital, but at least Shiro is alive and breathing. He sits in the hospital wing, hands clasped tightly around his phone as the clock hand ticks by. The doctors said Shiro is lucky, that the explosion caused some internal injuries but nothing life threatening. That he’d be have to go through physical therapy, would have a new scar on his face, but he’d be okay.

Keith wants to cry, but holds it back because he has to be the adult here until mom – Hinata gets here. Their hometown is three hours away. Keith doesn’t know how long Shiro was in the Garrison hospital before he got moved here, he didn’t think to ask. He’s alone. Keith texts Allura, because she’s almost Shiro’s girlfriend, and Pidge, because the Holts are family friends and he doesn’t have Matt’s number.

Keith doesn’t expect them to show up, or at least not talk to them while they’re here, not after he was a jerk to all of them and then abandoned the club the moment Shiro left. Keith’s always been good at pushing people away. Succeeding just hurts more this time than it usually does. Keith feels a hand on his shoulder and glances up to find worried blue eyes staring down at them, Lance’s smile soft. He looks up to find Allura next to him, a coffee in hand, Pidge and Hunk on either side of her.

“Allura, hey,” Keith mutters, voice small as he glances from person to person in confusion, blinking owlishly. He gets why Allura and Pidge are, but not anyone else. “Guys? What are you doing here?”

“Shiro’s in the hospital,” Hunk says back with scrunched eyebrows, as though why they’re here should be obvious. Keith nods wordlessly, expression blank. Of course Allura and Pidge would tell Hunk and Lance, they’re all friends with Shiro. Keith hadn’t thought this through. They deserve to know Shiro is okay as much as he does. Keith gives them a small nod as he stands up from the plastic chair, smile crooked and weak.

“Right, do you umm,” Keith starts and stops, because he’s never done this before. Keith doesn’t have a lot of experience with comforting people who aren’t Shiro, and he doesn’t think defending them as being the best or telling them how important they are would make sense right now. Keith can go to a vending machine though. “Can I get you anything?”

“We should probably be asking you that, Keith,” Allura points out in a gentle voice as she pushes the coffee at him. Keith takes it and stares at in and blinks owlishly, because why would Allura get him coffee? He smiles at her, crooked and weak, the tired concern in her gaze matching how he felt right now. “Is there any news about Shiro? Is he … okay?”

“Yeah, or they think he will be,” Keith says back in a low voice, not wanting to jinx anything by being too optimistic. That had been the story of his childhood, after all. Keith doesn’t want Shiro to end up being another example of it. “Shiro has some internal injuries, but they said he’ll be okay.”

“That’s really good Keith,” Lance says with a warm smile, patting him on the shoulder again, gaze tender like Keith hadn’t thrown him out of his apartment the last time he saw him. Keith nods wordlessly at him, before his gaze reaches Pidge’s worried gaze. Pidge. Keith needs to apologize to her. Again.

“Hey Pidge, can I talk to you for a second?” Keith asks, gesturing at the corner next to them. Pidge nods, narrowing her eyes a little as Keith starts without looking back.

Pidge raises an eyebrow when they get to the other side of the wall, one hand on her hip. Keith bites his lips, crossing his arms and looking up at the ceiling before finally looking down at Pidge. He could do this. She looks a little more worried as she next speaks. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to apologize, for that day I got annoyed with you for being worried,” Keith mutters, glancing down at her with a tight frown as she looks back impassively. Keith takes a deep breathe and closes his eyes before opening them again, meeting Pidge’s gaze with a wince. Why is he so bad at this? “I didn’t get it then, but now I do. I just, I shouldn’t have been such a jerk.”

“Well, I already forgave you, but thanks,” Pidge answers after a beat, smiling as he leans over and gives him a half hug. Keith stares back in surprise before hugging her back, feeling some of the tension he’s been holding in his chest for the past two weeks loosen a little at her words.

“I guess we should get back to the others,” Keith says when the hug breaks apart, and Pidge gives him a short nod as she turns the corner. Keith takes a second, worry growing again now that some of his guilt has been lessened. When he gets around the corner he sees a familiar warm smile and kind eyes, though their gaze is marred with fear as she reaches a slim hand to shake Allura’s. Keith shouts before he can stop himself, reason forgotten. “Mom!”

“Oh Keith, honey, I’m so sorry you had to deal with this alone,” mom says as she crosses the space between them to pull Keith into a tight hug. Keith freezes but then melts into it, holding her back just as tightly, the tears he’s been holding back for the past few hours starting to prick in the back of his eyes. Keith lets a few of them hall, squeezing his mom gently before letting her go.

“It’s okay M- Hina -“ Keith starts to correct himself until he sees the flicker of hurt in Hinata’s gaze, the hope there even beyond the fear for Shiro. Maybe she hasn’t asked him to call her mom, but Keith also never has. Maybe they’ve just both been on the same page and never realized it. Keith takes another shuddery breath before he speaks again. “Mom, you got here as fast you could. The doctors said he should be waking up soon. You should go in first, if we can only go in one at a time.”

“You really are such a sweet kid,” His mom says even though that’s not true and he doesn’t deserve it, her voice watery as she ruffles his hair, his messy ponytail half undone. Keith wonders if it looks like hers. “We’re going to be okay.”

“Yeah,” Keith answers with a shaky smile as he glances at her and then over to where everyone is huddled together, all of them here because they love the same person. “Yeah, we are.”

It’s another twenty minutes before they let mom see Shiro, and other twenty after that before Keith does. He paces the hallway and keeps asking if anyone needs something until Lance comes over and squeezes his shoulder; gaze gentle as he leads him back to a chair. Keith knows, logically, Shiro will be fine. But he hates hospitals and waiting.

So Keith knows he shoves through the door a little harder than necessary when his mom leads him to it, his eyes wide as he comes to rest next to Shiro’s arm. He can feel the tears falling down his cheeks now, but Keith can’t bring himself to care for once. “Shiro!”

“Hey, I’m okay now, you don’t have to look so worried,” Shiro reminds him with a gentle though pained smile, the bandages around the middle of his face making his voice come out strained. Keith shakes his head, grabbing Shiro’s hand with both of his own, even though he’s not actually small enough for that anymore. “Are you crying?”

“You almost died, you asshole,” Keith grunts, letting out a watery laugh before he lifts up one of his hands to wipe his eyes. The other one stays tight around Shiro’s fist, as though he’s afraid to let go in case Shiro disappears again. “Don’t, don’t do that again.”

“Well, given the extent of my injuries, the Garrison is reassigning me to desk duty for at least a few months,” Shiro says, gaze warm and reassuring as he gently squeezes Keith’s hand back. Then Shiro’s gaze grows a little tighter as he shakes his head a little bit. Keith wonders if he should be doing that with the bandages. “After that, I’ll do my best.”

“Right, right,” Keith answers, trying to push the anxieties out of his voice and go for something more reassuring or at least calm instead. Shiro’s the hurt one after all, not him. He needs to be strong for both of them, or something.

“But hey, that means a few months of cosplays for us,” Shiro tells him with a small smile, one that makes Keith think he didn’t do as good of a job keeping his emotions out of his voice as he thought. Keith smiles back, shaking his head a little bit as he lets out a small laugh. “Think of all the badass characters we can make my scar work for.”

Keith wants to say something to lighten Shiro’s pain, to make him – well not laugh, he had stitches – happier. But Keith has never been good at that, and he’s always been too honest for his own good. “I quit the club.”

“Oh,” Shiro says back with a considering gaze, though Keith can’t read it to know if he’s disappointed in Keith or if he’s annoyed Keith is telling that to him now. Both would be fair, but Shiro’s always had a good poker face and Keith isn’t always the best at reading people to begin with. It’s why Keith doesn’t play card games with Shiro anymore.

“I’m sorry,” Keith murmurs after a beat, gaze soft as he gently squeezes Shiro’s hand again, trying to offer some kind of comfort. He doesn’t know how much it means considering he failed Shiro. The club is Shiro’s thing, his friends, and Keith … “I know it’s really important to you and they’re your friends, and I kind of just. Abandoned them.”

“I shouldn’t have pressured you to join the way I did, it set you up to feel like you were replacing me with how your brain works,” Shiro says, his voice tired but warm as he gives an apologetic look. Keith would take offense to the first half of that comment on a normal day, but right now he’s trying to process what’s happening, eyes widening with shock and guilt and mild disbelief. “I’m sorry too.”

“Only you would try to apologize from a hospital bed,” Keith scoffs when the shock wears off, leaning over to stare Shiro in the eye, so the sincerity of his words is clear. Shiro nods, some of the guilt fading as he smiles a little. Keith gives him a brighter grin, thinking of that group waiting right now. “You didn’t do anything wrong and everyone is here to see you, Shiro.”

“And you,” Shiro adds in a small voice, a little raspy. Keith lets go of his hands to walk to the sink in the corner of the room, grabbing Shiro a small paper cup of water. He holds it up to his lips, though Shiro gently bats his hand away as he grabs it with his own. Keith makes a mental note to tell mom that Shiro’s arms seem to be okay. Shiro smirks a little before his next words. “You’re a part of our group now, Keith, no escaping it,”

“You’re a sap,” Keith tells him with a snort, shaking his head a little as he takes back the cup, impressed that Shiro somehow managed not to spill any of it even though he’s drinking while laying down. But then Shiro’s always been perfect.

“So are you underneath all that emo teen bullshit,” Shiro says with a teasing grin, gaze playful even though Keith can still see the pain underneath it. This is only the beginning, Keith knows that, but at least it is one, and not an ending. Sometimes that is more than Keith ever hoped for. “Hey Keith?”

“Yeah?” Keith asks as he walks toward the door, knowing his own twenty minutes are up and he should let Allura come in before Shiro falls asleep. His eyelids already look heavy.

   “Don’t join the Garrison,” Shiro mutters, and for a second his gaze is so heavy Keith wants to go there right now and punch every single higher up in the face. He swallows the urge and reminds himself he needs to wait at least until Shiro has served his time there. Keith smiles at Shiro, soft and reassuring as he opens the door.

“I won’t, I promise,” Keith tells him, and Shiro smiles back at him, gaze growing heavier with every second. “I’ll see you in a little bit, okay? Get some rest.”

Keith walks out the door, nodding at Allura as she pushes her way in, white braid bouncing with the speed of her movements. He makes it halfway down the when he sees Lance leaning against the wall, gaze tight and worried. His face relaxes a little when he sees Keith, the other boy quickly making his way to Keith’s side and taking him by the arm.

“Keith!” Lance shouts and then winces a little sheepishly, glancing around the hallway as though he’s expecting a nurse to pop up and yell at him. None appears and Lance’s gaze goes back to Keith, growing heavier again as he takes in what Keith imagines are his tear-stained cheeks. “How is Shiro doing?”

“Good, good, he’s alert and aware, tired though,” Keith says with a small smile that grows as his relief starts to come more and more to the surface, now that he’s seen Shiro and knows he’s in the clear. Keith’s smile grows a little more playful as he glances up at Lance and gives him a knowing look. “Wants to incorporate his scar into our cosplays.”

“Of course he does,” Lance answers with a small chortle, one that has the same manic relief that’s bubbling in Keith’s own chest. Keith laughs to for a moment, leaning forward so his hair brushes against Lance’s cheek. He pulls back, giving Lance an apologetic smile. Now isn’t the time to flirt, not when Keith was an asshole the last time he saw Lance. Not when Keith needs to ask Lance for a favor.

“Lance can I …” Keith starts and then bites his lip, gaze growing softer as he glances up at Lance, because he wants this. Keith wants to be with his … his friends again. Keith _has_ friends. Holy shit. “Can I rejoin the club? I get it, if you guys moved on or replaced me, or just don’t want someone who’s gonna throw a fit every time something goes wrong or –“

Lance cuts him off by gently squeezing his shoulder, smile warm as he pulls Keith into a half hug. There’s been a lot of that lately. “Keith, of course you can rejoin, you only quit for a week. It’s an anime club, dude, you can always come back.”

“I – thanks, and Shiro – he’s really glad you all came to see him,” Keith tells Lance with a warm smile, gaze soft and far away as he thinks of his brother, not moving away from Lance’s grip. Lance gives him another reassuring squeeze, because Lance is kind and good and Keith loves him. Likes. Not love. “He cares a lot about all of you.”

“We didn’t just come for him, you know,” Lance tells him; smile growing more tender as he repeats the same message that Shiro gave him a few minutes ago. Keith nods mutely, too overwhelmed to trust his voice right now. Between Shiro being okay and mom being mom and now this, it’s been too many good things at once and Keith isn’t used to that. “We’re here for you too.”

“Oh,” Keith manages after a moment, absent-mindedly noting that his voice sounds watery again. He doesn’t realize why until he feels the water sliding down his cheek, hitting his mouth with a bitter, salty taste. He’s crying again. Keith doesn’t bother wiping them away this time. “Thank you, I – you shouldn’t have.”

Lance frowns, gaze growing worried as his eyebrows slope downward, grip frowning softer against Keith’s shoulder. “Are you crying?”

“Yeah, I care a lot about you guys too,” Keith mutters, crossing his arms and pouting even as the tears keep falling down his face. Lance stares at him and then starts to laugh, kind and adoring, and Keith can’t help joining in after a moment. The laughter lasts until they reach the others in the waiting room, Keith being greeted with kind smiles and warm hugs. Maybe letting more than one person in isn’t such a bad idea after all.

* * *

Lance gazes around at his friends with a proud smile. Allura has somehow managed to fit her hair under a wig of blonde pigtails, her military uniform precise and exact, even as her impression mirrors Mitsuba’s more outgoing one. Next to her, Pidge is practically unrecognizable without her glasses and with her orchid wig. Matt is next to her, only needing to lose his own glasses to be a perfect Yoichi. Next to her, Hunk cut an imposing figure in his military outfit and glasses, which he kept dramatically peering over even though isn’t something Kimizuki did in the anime.

And Lance is Yuu, his black wig carefully held place with pins, sword at his waist and cape flowing behind him. He muses on the fact that if Keith were here, he could’ve been Yuu without a wig, and Shiro wouldn’t need one for Gurren either. Lance smiles over at the others, expression a little wistful. “It’s just, it feels like we’re missing something, huh?”

“Yeah, but next time we’ll be back up to being the sensational six,” Hunk declares, throwing his arms out with a bright grin, earning a small chortle from Pidge. Lance sighs, shaking his head at his friend, because that nickname is terrible. It sounds like they’re a rejected Marvel comic, not a team of elite cosplayers. “Don’t look at me like that, it was your idea to use that name for the cosplay contest.”

“And I vetoed it,” Allura adds with a small smirk as she leans over to glance between them pointedly. Lance flushes a little, because yeah, all of that is true. Lance can admit he has bad idea sometimes, but Hunk doesn’t have to remind him. Hunk just grins at him, gaze playful and then quickly growing shocked as he looks past Lance.

“I would’ve too,” A familiar voice calls out, and Lance turns around to see Keith standing there. Keith dressed as Mika, white cape billowing around him and blond hair surrounding his face, Keith’s hands resting on the hilt of his sword. He’s as beautiful as he is surprising to see. “Hey, I hope it’s okay I came. Shiro told me I had to leave his room.”

Lance nods wordlessly, because Keith has spent nearly every waking hour at the hospital since Shiro got back. He gives Keith another once over, because that still doesn’t explain how Keith got a costume together in time. “Keith … why do you have a Mika costume? We’re you secretly planning on coming all along? Did you surprise us to be like Mika?”

“No, we almost did it for a con two years back and I never got any taller,” Keith answers with a small sigh, pouting a little as he mentions his height. He holds up the cape, as though to show off the minutely worse stitch work. Lance only notices because he’s gotten to know Keith’s work very well. “And I still had my Yurio wig so I fluffed it up. I’m sorry the costume isn’t better, it’s two years old so …”

“It’s great, Keith,” Lance promises with a warm smile as he grabs his friend’s shoulder gently. Keith grins at him, the fake fangs in his mouth a blinding white. Lance giggles a little, because only Keith would go the extra mile for a last minute costume. Lance has never met anyone more determined in his life. “You’re adorable. And now our team is truly complete. I mean, Shiro’s Gurren would’ve been awesome, but we’ll do it again once he’s out of the hospital.”

“Yeah,” Keith agrees with a gentle smile as he squeezes Lance’s arm, glancing behind him curiously. Lance follows his gaze to find the others have disappeared while they were talking. Weird. “Do you want to look at charms?”

“That mean you’re finally going to add some to your sad bag?” Lance asks as he pokes the black satchel on Keith’s arm, still free of any of the cat charms Keith bought last con. Though Lance saw one on his key ring the other day, so he knows Keith likes them. Keith smiles, one fang poking out like he’s an actual vampire. “You know you’re not going to be able to eat with those?”

“I’ve had like a month’s worth of hospital pudding,” Keith answers with a shrug as he leans over to expect a Gryffindor blanket, rolling his eyes when Lance makes gagging noises behind him. They spend the rest of the day together, the group coming together and parting several times. They come in second in the cosplay contest and all agree that they would’ve been first if Shiro had been there.

Lance and Keith walk to the door together, hands brushing together every few seconds as Keith keeps glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. Lance finally grabs his hand, gaze soft as he stares over at Keith. “Keith, why’d you come? You know you don’t have to prove anything to us, right?”

“Yeah, I do,” Keith says insistently, crossing his arms and looking determined to prove he was going to earn forgiveness he already has, to the extent he needed any. Then Keith grins, gaze wistful as he looks down. “Besides, I hate going to cons when I’m not in costume.”

“So you didn’t dress up as Mika as an excuse to flirt with me all day?” Lance asks while wriggling his eyebrows, eyes following Keith’s line of vision where he sees that he’s still holding Keith’s hand. He quickly lets go, because he doesn’t want to make Keith uncomfortable.

“I mean, I knew no one else was going as him,” Keith says softly, but his cheeks are flushed and his eyes dreamy and embarrassed at the same time, hand still lingering in the space where Lance held it. Lance feels shock run through his system because did … did Keith _like_ him?

“Oh,” Lance murmurs as he stares at Keith with wide eyes, because he hadn’t expected this at all. He knows he likes Keith, wants to get to know him more, but Keith has just been through a lot and Lance needs to approach this carefully. “Keith, I –“

Careful goes out the window as Keith catches his mouth in a kiss, sloppy and quick. Keith’s bright red when he pulls back, gaze as shocked as Lance imagines his own is, his fingers coming up to dart against his lips. “I’m sorry, I know you don’t feel the same way and that was stupid, even for me. The con’s over so – don’t worry about it. Just forget it please.”

“Keith!” Lance calls as he tries to follow the other boy, who’s weaving easily through the crowd as though he’s not wearing a cape. Lance sighs as he loses sight of Keith before he can tell him that yes, he does feel the same way, or at least he could, breath ragged as he reaches the door. Keith’s so fast; maybe he really is a vampire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm going back and linking photos for each of the cosplays!
> 
> Pidge is Shinoa (http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/owari-no-seraph/images/7/7a/Apariencia_de_Shinoa.png/revision/latest?cb=20150525014803&path-prefix=es)  
> Allura is Mitsuba (http://68.media.tumblr.com/71647b8474778ecddb0b13a1aead0267/tumblr_nok54icTb91u2dzt6o7_400.png)  
> Hunk is Kimizuki (http://imgur.com/0jcD1vN)  
> Matt is Yoichi (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UYEz_UH18FY/maxresdefault.jpg)  
> Lance is Yuu (https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CJtgXjU-d2E/maxresdefault.jpg)  
> Keith is Mika (http://68.media.tumblr.com/3fda82477820948eec60d95702db50d6/tumblr_npzotmv48m1slbeoao1_1280.png)
> 
> And Shiro would have been Guren (https://68.media.tumblr.com/2bb72733a1e1f08015cf50dba317522e/tumblr_o0v4gxos5l1v1qbbdo2_1280.jpg)


	5. Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle

It’s mid March when Shiro comes out of the hospital, grinning as he walks to the living room with his crutches, Keith and Allura on either side of him. They both look worried, Allura tugging on her braid while Keith bites his lip, but Shiro’s smile is warm and open as he reaches the couch. There’s something tired in his eyes though, one that makes Lance’s smile more hesitant as he sits a glass of water down in front of him. Shiro raises an eyebrow at him, gaze knowing as he takes the glass with a smile.

“Looking good, Shiro,” Lance says after a moment, grinning over at the other man with a playful gaze. Shiro’s is still Shiro, even if things feel a little more tense right now. Lance knows they might for a while, but Shiro has them and he has Keith and Allura, and Lance can’t imagine a more terrifying team than that. “You’re only getting more handsome with age.”

“It’s been a month. Though I do have more white hairs, it’ll be a skunk streak soon,” Shiro points out with a grin, grabbing the more visible bits of white in his bangs. Next to him Keith scowls a little, gaze anxious as he stares at Shiro’s hair, as though it’s some how his fault they ended up there. Next to him, Shiro lets out a small snicker as he lightly shoves Keith with one hand. “Don’t make that face, you were the one who started those jokes.”

“Yeah, but mine are better,” Keith points out, scowl turning into a small smirk as he glances up at his brother. Shiro shakes his head before taking a sip of his water, while Keith picks up his diet coke with a victorious smile. The expression is enough to make Lance giggle, Hunk quickly joining in, because God, but those two could be petty when they aren’t trying to be perfect or broody.

“Keith is funny,” Hunk says between giggles. Hunk glances over at Keith, whose eyebrows are raised in confusion, mouth pressed into a small frown as he stares over at the other boy. Hunk gives him a warm smile, gaze rich with meaning on his next words. “Even when he’s not Sasuke.”

“Thanks Hunk,” Keith says in a soft voice, glancing over at him shyly before quickly grabbing his diet coke, as though to hide how moved he is by the simple compliment. Without his guard up, it’s clearer to Lance that Keith wants to be liked.

“So, how delightful Keith is aside, what are we doing for this month?” Allura suddenly calls out, tone serious and clipped as she glances around the room thoughtfully, as though trying to find inspiration in their faces. Lance smiles back at her, wriggling her eyebrows and making Allura roll her eyes playfully as she leans closer to Shiro.

“We can’t do anything to complex, we don’t have as much time with the … delays,” Hunk points out and then winces, eyebrows sloping down. Hunk trails off and glancing at the corner of the room, but they all know he means the crisis from last month. It’s no one’s fault and no one cares, but it does mean they haven’t really planned anything out but tickets.

“Me,” Keith mutters under his breath, and Lance leans over to punch him on the shoulder, earning a small pout from Keith. Keith scrunches his eyebrows together and Lance gives him a soft but pointed look, because they have no time for guilt and self-pity. They have a cosplay contest and he needs Keith at his instinctive, hardworking best, quick to pick out exactly what fabrics he needs and determined to make everything perfect. Lance has no idea if sad Keith can do any of that.

“Or we go as complex as possible, prove that we truly are the best cosplayers in the southwest region, that we’re too be feared,” Pidge calls from where she’s sitting in the recliner, legs crossed underneath her. Her expression grows more thoughtful as she peers over at Keith. Oh no. Lance smirks, gaze becoming determined as he crosses his arms. Lance knows that they could probably achieve whatever madcap scheme Keith and Pidge came up with, but at what cost? Several days of sleep, at least.

“Pidge, no, and Keith stop encouraging her,” Shiro calls out suddenly, tone chiding as he glances between them with a surprisingly serious look. Pidge immediately stills, the glint of a plan going out of her eyes as quickly as it came into it.

Keith, though, crosses his arms a little more tightly and glares at Shiro, though there’s no heat behind it. “I didn’t say anything!”

“You’re face did,” Lance points out with a playful grin, and Keith lets out a small sigh after a moment, admitting defeat. This time it’s Lance turn to loom more serious, cracking his knuckles as he gazed around the room. “But no, we want to look good if we’re gonna do okay at this competition. Winning is important but it isn’t everything, and coming in a respectable third is better than reaching for the stars and crashing into the sea.”

“Maybe,” Pidge says, though she and Keith share a look that Lance is pretty sure means they think the opposite. He makes a mental note to never let them plan a group trip (he’s sure it’d be fine, but Lance needs a bed, not a tent). Lance follows her gaze as she reaches the table in the middle of the room, as though expecting it hold the answers to her next question. “Whose turn is it anyway?”

“Mine,” Allura calls out suddenly, her smile apologetic as she glances over at the two of them, one hand brushing through the bottom of her braid. “I haven’t decided yet though. I considered _Orange_ , but it seemed too obvious that Keith would be Kakeru.”

“I’d make a good Suwa though,” Lance pointing out with a bright grin, glancing over at the rest of them with a confident gaze. Allura and Keith both let their gazes slide over to Hunk, making their choice for Suwa clear. Lance scoffs a little, but decides to ignore the betrayal to give his own suggestion instead. “But hmm, what about something magical? You like _Tokyo Mew Mew_.”

“Too many people will do it, we need to either be original or complex,” Keith points out with a low exhale, and a look of almost disappointment. Lance’s expression goes blank for a moment, both because of how wrong Keith is about how many people are going to dress up as _Tokyo Mew Mew_ characters and because of the implication Keith likes _Tokyo Mew Mew._ That guy is just full of surprises. Like that kiss.

“Okay, hmm,” Lance says, trying to give a response even as his mind drifts back to the kiss from nearly a month ago now. Keith hasn’t mentioned it since, beyond some awkward glances, so neither has Lance. Nothing else has changed, the two of them still walking to class together and having lunch everyday, but there’s a tension there Lance is sure is as thick for everyone else as it is for him.

“To be honest, I don’t have any ideas,” Allura admits after a beat, expression sheepish as the rest of them stare at her in shock. Allura almost always has a suggestion, something to help them out in a pinch. She crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow. “I’ve had three papers due in the past month, I’m not perfect. Keith, you look thoughtful.”

“It was my turn last month,” Keith objects, raising his hands up with flat palms, a pleading gesture. He looks almost embarrassed to be put in the leadership role after he failed to plan his own idea last month, and Lance can’t blame him. It’s never much fun and he doesn’t know anyone whose good at it outside of Shiro and Allura, and he’s not sure they actually _enjoy_ it. Keith, introverted and impulsive, has to hate it even more than Lance.

“Doesn’t really matter if you have an idea when no one else does,” Lance points out with a small grin, shifting on the couch so he’s closer to Keith. He gives him a reassuring look, because it’s not like it’s Keith’s responsibility alone to make the con work. They’re a team. “So go for it, but remember time and uniqueness.”

“No pressure,” Keith says with a snort, rolling his eyes a little even as he glances around the room. After a second, his gaze grows more determined, nodding swiftly as though he’s come to a decision. Then he doesn’t say anything.

Next to him, Shiro gives him another playful shove, grinning down at Keith beatifically as the other boy snaps out of his daze. “Keith.”

“I want to do _Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle_ ,” Keith says, tone sincere and a little embarrassed as he glances down at his hands, which were currently playing with the edge of his red hoodie. Lance stares at him, expression blank, because Lance has expected a lot of things from Keith, but that hadn’t been one of them. Though maybe it should’ve been after _Tokyo Mew Mew._

“Awesome!” Hunk cries out after a moment and Lance breaks out into a wide grin as his shock fades, throwing an easy arm around Keith’s shoulder and trying to ignore the surprised look in Keith’s gaze. Friends do this, and Keith deserves to know they’re all pumped to cosplay SHOW. Pidge is running her hands together, grinning as Lance guesses she’s planning out her costume. She’ll be Sakura, obviously.

“I agree I quite like it,” Allura says after a moment, smile warm as she gives her nod of approval. She then grows serious again, suddenly laying out days for their planning and sewing meetings over the next two weeks. Next to him, Keith grins in relief, stealing a glance at Lance that lingers just a little too long to be casual. Lance doesn’t move his hand for the rest of the night.

* * *

“I kissed Lance, at the con two weeks ago,” Keith mumbles one day when he’s finished helping Shiro with his physical therapy, carefully putting his ice pack in place. When he looks up, Shiro is staring at him with wide eyes, frowning a little as his eyebrows flatten. Keith’s guessing he’s probably putting together that it didn’t go well, since he and Lance aren’t together. Yet. “Yeah.”

“Did he kiss you back?” Shiro asks after a second, smiling a little as he gestures at the end of his bed. Keith sits down there, crossing his legs as he slides one hand under his chin and lets out a pained sigh. Because no, Lance hadn’t kissed him back. That’s the problem.

“I … didn’t really give him a chance to? I apologized for kissing him and then ran away before he could do anything,” Keith admits with a small wince, eyebrows sloping down as Shiro bites his lips. It takes Keith a minute to realize he’s biting back a _laugh_ , and Keith shoots him a tight glare, because this is serious. He doesn’t have any idea how to move forward with Lance or how to make things go back to normal. “I didn’t want to pressure him and I know he doesn’t like me back –“

“Yeah he does,” Shiro cuts him off with a smirk, some of the snickers escaping as he shakes his head at Keith. Keith stares back, gaze growing wide as he realizes that Shiro is serious.

“What?” Keith asks, because he’s hoped for this, pretended it might be true sometimes, but he never thought it was _actually_ possible. Lance is friendly and sunny and kind, liked by everyone and half the girls he flirts with flirt back (not that Lance ever notices). Lance great, and there’s no reason he’d have a crush on someone like Keith, even if he isn’t that bad to look at anymore (as Shiro so kindly put it last year when Keith got his braces off).

“Seriously, Keith, you two couldn’t be any more obvious,” Shiro says back with a grin, gently poking Keith on the shoulder. His gaze grows more serious after a moment, almost chiding, as though he can tell what Keith’s thinking. Keith bites his lips because yeah, maybe he’s just looking for reasons to avoid being rejected now. Keith just … isn’t good at feelings. Never has been.

“Oh,” Keith mutters, gaze growing a little more hopeful as he glances over at Shiro, bringing up one knee to rest his head on it. “Do you think he still likes me after I cut and run?”

“I think the only way to find out is to talk to him,” Shiro tells him gently, leaning over to ruffle his hair. Keith sighs, crossing his arms over his knees. Keith was pretty sure that Shiro was going to say something like that, but that doesn’t mean he has to like it. Maybe he can just kiss Lance again and wait and see how he reacts. No. even Keith knows that’s a bad idea, shaking his head as Shiro stares at him in bemusement.

“Right,” Keith says after a beat, gaze growing more determined as he moves past worrying to having a goal. He needs to this at the con, because then he won’t make costume sessions awkward for anyone else, and it can be their thing if Lance does like him back. And every romantic gesture Keith’s made, he’s done while blond. It seems to be a thing for them. “I want to do it in costume.”

“I don’t think that matters, but if that helps you relax,” Lance throws out with another grin, leaning back against his pillow as he gives Keith another teasing smile. Shiro is having way too much fun with this.

“I just … want to be on his level,” Keith admits with a small frown, gaze tight as he stares up at Shiro. He’s not voiced this fear yet, and he knows Shiro will know the right thing to say – except Shiro is laughing hard enough to make his eyes crinkle a little. “Why are you laughing?”

“Because you’re both the worst,” Shiro says as he catches his breath, glancing at Keith and then laughing again. Keith blinks owlishly, because there’s no way Lance thought he wasn’t good enough for Keith, was there? Except … Lance used to think of him as a rival, so maybe there’s some insecurity on both sides, even if Keith doesn’t know why.

“Thanks, Shiro,” Keith finally says, because as always lately, he has a lot to think about right now. Too bad he’s supposed to meet Lance for a costume fitting in an hour. Keith really times his revelations badly. He gives Shiro another awkward smile as he climbs off of his bed, taking a deep breath as he reminds himself the worst-case scenario is Shiro being wrong.

(He really hopes Shiro isn’t wrong).

****

I wanted to show off my costume, it’s basically done except for the hair and the shoes,” Keith says as Lance opens his door, smile warm as he holds up his phone to show off the half finished text he was showing Keith. Keith grins sheepishly, hugging his heavy duffle coat around him a little tighter. He might have run all the way here after asking, yeah. He’s nervous. Keith steps inside Lance’s door room, waiting until the door is shut before he slides his coat off the shoulder, letting it fall to the floor below him. Lance’s eyes go wide for second and then he lets out a breath, and Keith blinks at him because what was that about? “So what do you think?”

“Well, I gotta say I enjoyed the dramatic coat drop, it was very …cool of you,” Lance tells him in a slightly strangled voice, and Keith scrunches his eyebrows together because he’s still not sure what Lance is getting at here. Lance smiles at him then, fond and teasing, shaking his head the same way he does when Keith doesn’t get a joke. “Next time you should toss it to someone in the crowd.”

“Allura and Shiro are still annoyed from when I threw my jacket at them,” Keith reminds him, crossing his arms as he lets out a small exhale at the memory. He’d looked very Yuri Plisetsky while doing it at least. Acting has never been one of Keith’s strong suits when it came to the cosplay contests. Fai D. Flourite is outside his usual character type, so he’s not sure how well this is going to go. At least Hunk is good at acting to make up for their bit together.

“Yeah, because you didn’t give them any warning,” Lance tells him with a teasing grin, leaning over to run a hand down his white sleeve, stopping as he reaches the black glove. Lance gives him a small nod of approval, making Keith smile back softly. “Throw at me instead, and I promise I’ll be impressed.”

“By my moves or my arms?” Keith asks before he can stop himself, voice surprisingly flirty even to his own ears. Lance’s eyes widen, a slight flush coming to his cheeks. Keith can feel his own heating up, glancing away from Lance to stare at the wall instead. Lance has a lot of movie posters. “Anyway, thanks for your help.”

Lance grins at him, giving a quick nod before frowning softly as his gaze lands on Keith’s hair. “Keith – do you need help? With the wig?”

“Oh, right,” Keith says back, because Fai is blond and he’s not, even if he keeps end up being them every other con. And every time he and Lance have a moment. Huh. “No, I’m gonna make it by myself.”

“You don’t know how to make wigs though,” Lance reminds him, scrunching his eyebrows together. Keith gives him a crooked smile, nudging him with his shoulder and hoping it’s enough to distract Lance from asking him any more questions. Lance raises his eyebrows, a hint of worry in his gaze as he stares over at Keith’s hair. Keith bites his lip, because he wants to make this a surprise.

“Look, don’t worry, I’m not going to let you down,” Keith promises, resting one hand over Lance’s as he gazes up at him, expression determined. Lance nods back, smiling a little as Keith’s gaze grows a little softer. “I know I kind of did before, but I’m not going to disappoint you again.”

“Okay, again, it was a con, not a life or death situation,” Lance mutters with a sigh, shaking his head a little as he takes a step back to get another good look at Keith’s costume. His gaze is considering as he takes Keith’s style in, and Keith feels like he’s being evaluated and he’s not even sure what. “And I know you won’t, you’re very talented. Hey! Maybe you should go to fashion school instead of the Garrison?”

Keith’s eyes go wide as he stares over at Lance, his words rolling over in Keith’s head but still not adding up. Him? Fashion school? “What?”

“I mean it, you’re really talented at sewing and craftsmanship,” Lance says with a smile, voice surprisingly warm and encouraging, a far cry from the dirty looks he used to get during quiz results in astrophysics class. Six months really could change a lot. Lance grabs his shoulder, grin growing wide as something mischievous entered his gaze. “Plus, most fashion designers are kind of intense loners.”

“Thanks Lance,” Keith scoffs, rolling his eyes as he picks up his coat from the floor. He promised he’d gab Shiro dinner on the way home, and he needs to get home soon. Lance shrug a little, gaze playful as he takes one last look at Keith’s costume before Keith slides his coat back on. Keith grins then, light and more playful than his usual ones. “But I’m trying to break out of the loner phase right now.”

“Well, good,” Lance answers after a minute, gaze growing softer as he leaned over to fix Keith’s top button, fingers lingering there for a moment. Keith blushes a little, eyes glued to Lance’s nimble fingers. He wonders if he should kiss Lance again, but reminds himself he has a plan. Keith should try sticking to one for once.

“I’m not joining the Garrison,” Keith murmurs as he glances up at Lance and takes a step back, hand on the door. Lance’s eyes light up as he nods, both of them sharing a silent understanding. Keith doesn’t want to disappear, is afraid of that, and he didn’t feel that way six months ago. That’s something.

* * *

“You look amazing Shiro,” Lance says as Shiro peers at him over his glasses, as though they’re real. He looks like a perfect Watanuki, and Lance would pay money to know how Shiro got his hair to lay like that without a wig. He’s like cosplay magic. Next to him, Allura’s long black wig flows down her shoulders, hiding the straps of her black dress, though the intricate beading on the front is still visible. She’s a perfect Yuuko. Next to her, Hunk looks like a total badass, cape flowing behind him and his muscular arms perfect with the black armbands at his wrist. Then there’s Pidge, a perfect Sakura, even capturing the stiff angles of her crop top and exact wideness of her pants. “We’re gonna win the hell out of this contest.”

“I thought you said winning didn’t matter,” Pidge points out with a smug grin, and Lance realizes that she and Keith won after all. They did do something complicated at the last minute, and frankly, Lance can’t even be mad. They all pulled if off beautifully, and he has to admit that his Syaoran costume is pretty decent, belts carefully constructed and held in place, wig the right level of messy. Plus, he finally got to be a goggle boy.

“I lied, winning always matters,” Lance admits with a shrug and a bright smile, earning laughter from his friends. Lance smiles over at Shiro, not able to keep himself from getting a little sentimental. “And we’re not going to lose with Shiro on our side.”

“Of course not,” A voice calls out fondly, and Lance turns around to see Keith, white top billowing out behind, making each step suitably dramatic. And now they’re perfect cosplay group is complete. Lance knows they’re going to win this time. Keith gives his brother a warm smile, glancing up at him with wide eyes, as though he’s still awed by Shiro. “Shiro’s costumes are always amazing.”

“Thank you, Keith,” Shiro says with an equally fond smile, ruffling his hair as he looks down at him with a look Lance can’t read. Lance frowns softly, shaking his head at Shiro, because they can’t afford messing with Keith’s wig. Not when it looks so natural. He’s a little jealous, apparently Keith was just as good at wig work as he was making costumes. (a small, treacherous part of Lance wonders if Keith asked for help because he had a crush on him).

“Yours isn’t too shabby yourself,” Lance says as he takes a step toward Keith, doing his best to push down his own insecurities. He already knows Keith likes him, or at least wants to kiss him. There’s no reason for him to be this nervous. Well, except that Keith hasn’t tried since, not making another move or even acknowledging that he said he liked Lance. Lance freezes as he gets closer, gaze narrowing as he stares at Keith’s wig. It really is natural, almost too natural …

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Keith asks, crossing his arms as he pouts over at the other boy, cocking his head a little bit so one of his bangs moves across his face. That isn’t how wig bangs move. Pidge and Allura move in as well, both of them glancing at Keith, who’s crossing his arms tighter with each passing minute, glaring at them anxiously.

“Keith …” Allura says, voice low and worried, as she stares at Keith, eyebrows scrunching together as she finally asks the questions on all of their minds. “Did you dye your hair?”

“Yeah,” Keith answers with a small wince, biting his lip as he glances over at Lance softly, hopefully. Lance blinks owlishly, because he’s not really sure what Keith is getting at, though he’ll give that Keith looks better with actual blonde hair than in the wig. “I wanted to show you guys that I was really dedicated to our group and the con and stuff.”

“Keith, we told you all it was fine,” Lance says, running a hand under his chin as he peers over at Keith, eyebrows pushing together. Keith had glanced in every direction while he gave his reason, pausing after each word and not making eye contact with any of them. That’s Keith’s terrible lying face, so the real reason he decided to go blond isn’t for the sake of the team.

“Yeah, but I kept saying it wasn’t,” Keith points out, gaze darting around again as he crosses his arms. He refuses to meet anyone’s gaze, though Lance can tell from the frowns and scrunched eyebrows together that everyone else has figured out Keith is lying too. Keith looks like he just got caught stealing cookies, after all. Lance has no idea how he ever thought Keith was scary or cool.

“I mean, that is true,” Hunk points out with a shrug, giving Keith a reassuring grin as Keith met his gaze and winced a little.

“And I’m sure they can fix it at my salon,” Allura says cheerfully as she reaches over to pat Keith on the shoulder, smile bright. Keith nods, gaze growing more and more embarrassed with each passing second, one hand reaching up to brush against his hair. It’s not that bad, not when Keith’s face is that good, but Lance has to admit he’ll be relieved when it’s black again.

“I can’t believe you’re still kind of cute with that hair,” Lance mutters with a sigh as he leans over, taking one blond lock and twirling it between his fingers. Keith looks up at him, eyes wide and mouth forming a small “o” of surprise. Lance grins at him like a cat, slowly letting go of his hair so it bounces against his face.

“You think?” Keith asks, smirking though it’s more wobbly than his usual confident one, gaze nervous but longing as he stared up at Lance. Keith takes a deep breath, and Lance wonders where this going. “Hey Lance, can I talk to you alone?”

“Not like you two don’t do that every con,” Pidge says with a snort from behind them, raising an eyebrow as she stares over at them. She waves them off, Hunk joining in after a second, both of them giving Lance knowing looks he doesn’t really get- then he does. Lance is never telling them about his romantic problems ever again. He feels a little better when Shiro joins in, grinning at Keith pointedly. Allura joins in as they start walking away, her eyes wide as she seems to have caught on. Lance just hopes Keith has too.

“What did you want to talk about?” Lance asks as they get to a corner of the hallway, Keith playing with the edge of one of his gloves and looking everywhere but at Lance.

“Remember when I kissed you last con?” Keith says as he looks up at Lance, expression almost pained. Lance almost tells him they can drop it, but then Keith smiles at him, shy and sweet, and Lance feels like his heart is going to leap out of his chest. Keith looks sheepish as he keeps talking, smile crooked. “I shouldn’t have walked away. Or waited a month to bring it up.”

Lance grins back at him, relief feeling his chest as he takes in Keith’s flushed cheeks and hopeful gaze, the slight shaking that Lance matches. He’s pretty sure they’re on the same page now, and that’s all that really matters. “No, you shouldn’t have, but you’re going through a rough time, and I could’ve mentioned it.”

“I _like_ you,” Keith says, voice growing more determined as he stares up at Lance, though he’s still blushing. Keith suddenly reaches a hand out and holding it in front of Lance’s own, gaze narrowing as Lance stares at it blankly. Then he gets it, smiling as he tangles his hand through Keith’s, squeezing his hand softly as Keith breaks out into a wide grin. God, Keith is extra adorable when he’s being determined and awkward at the same time.

“Well I like you too,” Lance tells him with a nervous laugh, gazing down at Keith tenderly. Lance leans in until he can feel Keith’s breath against his cheek, smile growing a little more heated. “I’m gonna kiss you now, just so we’re on the same page this time.”

“What are you waiting for?” Keith asks with a playful smirk, eyes half lidded as he parts his lips, the two of them meeting in the middle. It’s sweet, surprisingly gentle and less hurried than their first, and this time Keith is still here holding his hands when the kiss breaks, gazing up at Lance like he’s the sun. Lance is pretty sure he’s looking at Keith the same way, and he smiles into the next kiss Keith gives him, heated and short and messy. It’s perfect and suddenly, Lance doesn’t care about the contest anymore. He’s already won.

(But they totally get first place and it’s awesome).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your suggestions, they were great and I have lots of new anime to watch, but I realized that if I was truly honoring my anime loving past, I had to end with Clamp.
> 
> Shiro (https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/xxxholic/images/9/94/Watanukivol18.png/revision/latest?cb=20110609040744)  
> Allura (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HPggGNOfT5M/Vp5sIAO9MVI/AAAAAAAAAmA/PqUh5iou4J4/s1600/xxxHolic1.jpg)  
> Pidge (https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/ccs/images/1/15/Princess_Sakura.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080707092045)  
> Lance (http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/3__/images/0/0e/Syaoran_Li2.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20140918071915&path-prefix=300-heroes)  
> Hunk (https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/ccs/images/0/02/Kurogane.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080712101923)  
> Keith (http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m73kt6OsQV1ra6cjio1_500.jpg)


End file.
